By CHRIS WARBINGTON

Staff Intern

With the popularity of gory movies like “Saw” and “Hostel,” it may be hard to find one that’s thrilling without excessive amounts of gore.  

But according its stars, Shawn Ashmore and Laura Ramsey, “The Ruins” does just that.   

The film follows four friends Eric (Ashmore), Jeff (Jonathon Tucker) Amy (Jenna Malone) and Stacy (Ramsey) who are vacationing in Mexico. They meet up with another tourist, Mathias (Joe Anderson), and together they struggle to survive the evil spirits they find at an old archeological dig site of ancient ruins deep in the jungle. 

The plot of “The Ruins” is based on the book by Scott Smith, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. “The Ruins” follows Smith’s text well. The major plot points in the book are depicted on screen.  

Ashmore, who read the book, said, “I mean there are certainly changes … but I think at the end of the day it has the exact same tone. Pretty much all the events, all the major events and character points and stuff that happened in the book are translated really well into the film.”

According to Ashmore, “The Ruins” differs from traditional horror movies in that “the most horrific things that happen in this film, our characters do to each other,” Ashmore said. 

“It’s not as if there’s someone stalking us or there’s like some guy that’s jumping out of a closet with a knife,” he added. 

Ashmore and Ramsey described their experiences on the set as intense and thrilling. What made the experience more intense for them was the fact that they put themselves in their characters’ shoes, and the emotions manifested in a real fashion for them. 

“I really, really had a good time making this movie but it was kind of like every day was life and death, like, you know, verge-of-tears hysterics,” Ashmore said. 

Ramsey said that the movie had a challenging role for her to fulfill. She is typically plays the “happy-go-lucky girl,” but in “Ruins” Ramsey plays a part for which she needed to “lash out” at the people her character is close with.  

“I put myself in the situation and made it realistic for myself and then they kind of just add in like the music and the scary sounds that go along with it,” Ramsey said, adding that the movie is scarier than other horror movies. 

“It’s more on an element of survival and human instincts than just mindless killings.”

“The Ruins” hits theaters April 4.