The Ruins

After the implied promise that Scott Smith was a daunting voice to be reckoned with upon the publication of his debut thriller, A Simple Plan (agreeably translated to film soon after by director Sam Raimi before the horrormeister got all tangled in the Spider-Man web of pop culture success), the man seemingly disappeared without a trace for the ensuing 12 years. Finally, he is back, and in agreeably nasty form. A handful of young American tourists are partying it up on the Yucatán Peninsula when the brother of one of their new friends goes missing, his implied trail indicating an avenue of departure winding into the nearby jungle and leading to the eponymous site. And so being the adventurous (read: sublimely naïve) sorts, they decide to eschew the local authorities and set out on their own to track him down. Bad idea. Seriously, a really bad idea. To give away more would be a bad idea on my part, but suffice to say it delivers in a deliciously creepy nature.