As for the acting? It is all fine. The cast is made up of up and comers with faces you may recognize from other projects, but not famous enough to take you out of their story. Jonathan Tucker (The Black Donnellys) plays Jeff, the de facto leader of the group; his girlfriend is ably blayed by Jena Malone (Into the Wild). Along for the ride are Shawn Ashmore (X-Men: The Last Stand), as Eric, and his girlfriend Stacy, portrayed by Laura Ramsey (The Covenant). Along with the previously mentioned Joe Anderson, this core group of players do a good job of making you believe the unbelievable is happening to them.

Bottom line. The Ruins has nudity, blood, guts, gore, laughs, terror, suspense, and killer vines — what else do you need? Sure, the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more and some rough dialogue patches smoothed a little better, but that takes nothing away from what was accomplished here. It is the best horror film so far this year and definitely worth taking a look at.

Recommended.