By GRACE DETWILER
THE RUINS
Dir. Carter Smith
Written by Scott B. Smith
Starring Shawn Ashmore, Jena Malone, & Jonathan Tucker
GAIA
Dir. Jaco Bouwer
Written by Tertius Kapp
Starring Monique Rockman, Carel Nel, & Alex van Dyk
The ultimate message at the core of the Eco-horror film is that when all is said and done in the world, nature will win out over humanity. Humankind may have had its day, but long after we are gone, it is hoped that the natural world will remain. Thus, Eco-horror films provide a kind of comfort to climate change anxiety by emphasizing the Earth’s power over the evils of man. By presenting natural forces as the killer in a slasher format, these films recognize the true danger nature can pose towards living beings and work to acknowledge the innocents that would suffer in a real climate disaster; those enduring the most are rarely those to blame.
While the second film I am discussing today, GAIA, may have been made with climate change in mind, that is not at all true of Carter Smith’s THE RUINS (2008). More than anything, THE RUINS is ‘tourist horror,’ reminiscent of other gorefests of its day, such as Eli Roth’s HOSTEL. What its plot may lack in intelligence, THE RUINS makes up for it with extremely smart scares. Smith’s film is based on the novel and screenplay by Scott Smith (no relation) and depicts the horrifying fates of four college students vacationing in Mexico, who decide to accompany a German tourist to an archeological excavation of a Mayan temple. When they arrive, however, the German’s missing brother is nowhere to be found, and the group is soon confined to the temple by intimidating villagers who seem intent on keeping them there. Unfortunately, the two couples learn too late that the temple is in fact infested with carnivorous vines laced with flowers capable of replicating any sound or voice.
Jonathan Tucker as Jeff in THE RUINS
To spoil the central conceit of THE RUINS, it soon becomes clear to the tourists that the locals are in fact quarantining them to the temple, as they have been contaminated by simply touching the vines. As the “infection” slowly presents itself, tendrils twist beneath their skin, and the vines wind around their very bones. The effect of the plants intoxicates the tourists, making them delirious – dangerous to themselves and others. While the plot of THE RUINS is easy enough to poke holes in, the second two-thirds of the film provide incredibly effective horror. The vines are a terrifying enemy – simultaneously malicious and mischievous – and torture the tourists in truly unexpected ways.
Stacy (Laura Ramsey) attempts to cut the vines out of her body.
As in most Eco-horror movies, the protagonists of THE RUINS are punished for encroaching upon a wilderness that was better left untouched. Their actions endanger the local ‘Mayan’ people and even cause them to sacrifice one of their own children to the vines. Ultimately, it is the tourists’ hubris that dooms them – their foolish assumption that they could outsmart their enemy. Like GAIA, THE RUINS could also be categorized as survival horror as well. Working with or against the Earth provides the grounds for whether a character lives another day or dies in the jungle.
The tourists stand at the foot of the vine-infested temple.
This brings us to GAIA, a 2021 South African indie depicting the fate that befalls forest ranger Gabi (Monique Rockman; header image) when she finds herself lost, injured, and in the care of savage environmental devotees Barend and Stefan. The two men have a religious, or perhaps cultish, dedication to the natural world, which allows them to live in peace with the deadly fungus that infects the surrounding forest. Not only does this fungus kill you, however, but overtakes your body until you are a mindless mushroomed killing machine.
Like in THE RUINS, body horror is a prominent element of GAIA. The fusion of plant and human tissue provides the plentiful gore of both films, aided by practical and digital effects. As symptoms of the fungal illness begin to present in Gabi, lichen grows forth from her pores, and tendrils attempt to invade her body as she sleeps. GAIA presents its characters with the dilemma of resisting or giving in to the fungus’ influence, and it remains unclear what the correct choice would have been. The growth of the fungus is horrifying, yet beautiful.
Winston (Anthony Oseyemi) succumbs to the fungal infection.
The CGI of GAIA is particularly striking, which shows the glowing fungal spores traveling through the forest, creating the effect of a living, breathing organism. Nature is godlike in GAIA, as the namesake suggests, and Barend, Stefan, and Gabi remain the only humans to survive an encounter with her fungal progeny. They do so by shunning technology and modern civilization, and by obeying every demand Mother Nature makes of them. The harmony Barend has cultivated between himself and the surrounding wilderness is disrupted when Gabi and his son begin to fall in love. Eventually, the trio is tragically doomed by Gabi and Stefan’s plan to escape to civilization, and the tentative peace with the mushroom monsters is broken.
A mushroom monster from GAIA.
Both GAIA and THE RUINS portray the helplessness of human beings in the face of violent ‘natural disasters.’ As mere animals themselves, the human protagonists of these films are no match for the sentient plants that wish to germinate beneath their skin. In both cases, the message is clear: the inner workings of the natural world may never be entirely understood by human science. Beyond that, some wonders of the world may be better off left undiscovered. GAIA goes a step beyond THE RUINS, however, in terms of how a death-by-plants is understood by the filmmakers. THE RUINS’ vines may be gruesome killers, yet there is a transcendent element to the human-nature connection forged by the fungus in GAIA. Despite being a bit cheapened by its use of shiitake zombies, GAIA – as well as THE RUINS – will make you think twice the next time you hike a little too far from the trail.
