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Dreamworks Sends A First-Time Director To THE RUINS!!
Well, I’ll give Dreamworks points for balls.
Scott Smith’s THE RUINS was one hell of a read, one of the best pure horror novels I’ve come across in a while. Taut, well-characterized, with a threat that could not be defeated... it was almost too tense an experience in places.
For those of you who haven’t read it, Smith is the same guy who wrote A SIMPLE PLAN. THE RUINS deals with four American friends who wander into the jungle during a vacation in Mexico, only to discover that the place they’ve stumbled across harbors a deadly secret. I’d say more, but I don’t want to ruin the fun for anyone.
Smith wrote his own screenplay adaptation of his novel, just as he did with A SIMPLE PLAN, so I’m confident they’ve got a good script for this one. Now they’ve hired a director, and here’s where those balls of steel come in handy for Dreamworks: they’re going with a first-timer. Carter B. Smith directed a short film called “Bugcrush,” which I haven’t seen. I presume it’s a knockout, though, because this job will require a deft touch with actors, a genuine sense of how to build and sustain dread, and a knack for shooting special effects that don’t look like special effects.
Whatever the case, this one will be on my radar, and I’m looking forward to finding out if Carter B. Smith is up to the challenge ahead.
VARIETY ran the original story here.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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Yep.
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I always hope horror films get better. They usually don't. But I always hope.
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IT'S RAPHAEL...A LITTLE TOO RAPHAEL
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Wow, this one is literaly a month old. Great novel though. I hope they do it justice.
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...so I'll be curious as to how this adaptation unfolds. If the author's involved and people who've read the thing approve of casting choices, it may save me the time and effort of actually reading the thing.
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But a first time director definitely gotta eat... agree? Disagree?
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I would like a post that flies off the handle.
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Damn you Michael Bay
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far better.
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I work for the Eerie Horror Film Festival and we played Bugcrush at our 2006 fest. Good luck to Dreamworks! Although it did win "Best Short" at our fest, almost everyone that I talked to thought it was one of the biggest wastes of their time. It definitely wasn't AMAZING like everyone kept saying, so I don't remember the details, but I do remember not really liking it that much. It was alright, but I don't think it was anything spectacular. Again, this is just my opinion and about 200 others...good luck to Dreamworks...
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And it really seemed like it'd be a standard Sci-Fi Channel flick than anything else. I felt the characters were too cookie-cutter and the whole plot seemed like something Michael Crichton wrote, read, realized it was sub-par, and chucked out into the trash. The plot never surprised me, honestly.Don't get me wrong, it'd make an ok film for some (not me), but not some big, overhyped thriller. Just a garbagey "Anaconda" or "The Relic" sort of thing.
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Hey, cut this guy some slack. Technically, this Carter guy is not a first time director. Besides, even Michael Bay Denis had a first time; veteranship means nada.
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Avatar is going to kick ass
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what a game last night, but got to give it up to NASH
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should make for a great knuckle biter.
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about the inevitability of death, the fact that nature will consume us all, and how people react to facing that moment. You keep hoping there's more to it than that, but there's not. Everybody talks about the originality but the cliches are all there. The only teeth the book had was the ending, and you can count on Hollywood to change that.
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In fact I returned it to my local public library before it was even due back. Had no compulsion to see how it ends. I thought this novel was a comedown for Scott Smith, whose A SIMPLE PLAN I loved.
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yep.
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Scary? No. Thrilling? No. Short? Well, it at least had that going for it. I saw that Smith thanked Ben Stiller in the liner notes, and upon looking it up saw that he actually optioned the book. So, maybe Stiller can add a little Focker humor to this insipid excuse for an exciting novel. Go read Cormac McCarthy instead.
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I just hope they don't advertise it as a "killer plant" movie, and instead make it seem like the Mayans are the villains. That's what I assumed when I started the book, and it was quite a surprise to see how it eventually turned out. -
Bridget Fonda is soooo purty!!!
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