9 Horror Movies That Were Ahead Of Their Time

Time will tell on this one, but Carter Smith’s 2008 film feels like a cult hit ready to be discovered, and maybe - just maybe - the vanguard for a boom in the natural horror subgenre.

The Ruins has the misfortune to share a vague plot description with M Night Shyamalan’s disastrous The Happening - Man vs. Plants. While Shyamalan’s bomb was melodramatic to the point of hilarity, though, The Ruins is a taught, fast paced thrill ride to the extent that the fiendish flora make for a genuinely frightening foe.

The film sees a group of travellers stumble upon a Mayan temple. They’re met with hostility by the locals, and this only intensifies when the heroes brush against some vines. Immediately the Mayans can think only of killing them, and as they run for their lives, the sinister vines slowly infect the protagonists.

Unlike The Happening, The Ruins makes no attempt to explain away what’s happening, but it’s depicted well enough that it’s easy to go along with, and Smith’s direction is impressively subtle; he doesn’t feel the need to go for the big scare every time, instead cranking up the tension in increments. With the climate in crisis, it’s not hard to see the planet’s plantlife striking back.