The cast of horror ruins

Chris Bender, the producer, explained that the inspiration for the creation of Ruins of Terror came from the joint efforts of two other producers, Stuart Cornfeld and Ben Stiller: "Confield and Stiehler are both loyal fans of Scott B. Smith's first novel Surprise of Unexpected Wealth, which was later adapted into a film of the same name. He was also nominated for best supporting actor and best adapted screenplay ... Before the novel version of Ruins of Terror was officially published, Confield and Stiehler secretly read several chapters, then took the story to DreamWorks, and soon found a master for it-they bought the film adaptation right of the novel and found the original author Smith to handle the screenplay himself.

Both the novel and the script are based on the same basic story clue: four vacationers who have no intention of revealing the secrets of the Mayan ruins, and at the same time they are involved in the entanglement with a man-eating vine ... Of course, the original novel with rich material resources contains more than that. What is hidden behind struggle for existence is a person's efforts and struggles to go beyond the limit and explore the infinite potential of human beings. Several producers have given Scott B. Smith enough trust, and they firmly believe that he can create the same horrible and recognizable human emotional intensity for the script as in the novel. Charles Bender said: "Once we find the right director for the film, the story can only develop in two possible directions-either digging deep into the story and making a film that kills plants with incredible power; Either directly rush to test the psychological endurance of the audience, make the film both attractive and sinister, and it is possible to break away from the novel and become a 100% original story. "

If we want to find a suitable director who can shoulder this arduous task and make a scary and suspenseful film, we should also treat the texture and level of Scott B Smith's novels fairly. DreamWorks finally threw the hydrangea to Carter Smith. Although Carter Smith has never directed a real feature film, even though he started as a fashion photographer, after watching his award-winning short film Pest, all the producers agreed that they had finally found the right person ... jena malone, one of the leading actors, played Amy in the film, and she said, "I still remember that I had at least 10 minutes after watching Pest. Still sitting there motionless, I was really scared, because this short film is not the kind of horror film that is easy to understand. Although the movie is over, it seems that you can still smell, taste and feel it. It is a lingering entanglement that makes people feel uneasy. It was not until this time that I realized that I never seemed to have carefully interpreted this type of film. After watching Bug, I began to think about the strange way in which Ruins of Terror might be presented, and realized that it might become a pioneer representative of distorting this film genre. In the film, it is not only the climbing vines that kill people, but also the humanity hidden in ourselves-what kind of reaction will we make when something unusual happens around us? That was the first time I saw the most fascinating interpretation of the horror story. "

From Carter Smith's point of view, the reason why he agreed to be the director of Ruins of Terror naturally stems from his unfounded trust in the creator of the original novel. Smith said: "I have always liked Scott B. Smith's Surprise of a windfall. As for Ruins of Terror, I actually read it carefully after receiving the invitation from DreamWorks. In my opinion, directing a film like this can be called a treat, because what is in front of me is an excellent script with many wonderful colors and elements, which makes people want to stop. Let the original author of the novel write his own script, which is a very flattering practice, which is equivalent to a kind of' welfare', because no one knows the story and characters better than the author himself, and only he can dig out the real meaning from the plain words. As far as the current film industry is concerned, we all have to face the fact that in this kind of thriller and horror-oriented film, it is rare to see such a striking role setting, not to mention that I am an out-and-out horror fan ... The interesting thing about Ruins of Terror is that the young people concerned here are not the same and stereotyped plane characters-Amy and Stacy are best friends. But their boyfriends don't deal with each other very much, and then there are Matthias and his friend Dimitri. Matthias is a tourist from Germany who came here to look for his missing brother, so several people went together. Because most of these characters are unfamiliar, the film creates a strange atmosphere from the beginning: what can I do to get along well? Where should I put myself among these strangers? No one can get the real answer until the situation takes a turn for the worse and develops in the wrong direction. I like this kind of story very much. I can pick out these multifaceted characters at will, and then decorate their surroundings with complex situations to see their most authentic reactions in some emergencies. " Trish Hofmann, a fellow producer, said: "Scott B. Smith obviously knows how to create a horror story. He has a great talent in mastering the atmosphere that creates psychological horror, and especially likes to put ordinary people in a terrible situation that you can't imagine ... Similarly, Carter Smith is very sensitive and cautious. I like to plant fear in your heart step by step, so let him partner with Scott B. Smith. This combination can make people shine. They will certainly be able to explore together in the process of complementarity and vividly show the stories in the novel. "

For producer Charles Bender, the classic representative of horror in his mind must be like Jaws, which can bring people a sense of urgency to be in danger at any time, not just a simple attack. Bender said: "The great white shark is the target we tried to get close to when making this film. In order to make the story more horrible, we keep instilling enough information in it to make you gradually understand that climbing vines is fatal. Not only can you see them moving from time to time, but you also want to know when they will attack again ... because to some extent, there are some amazing secrets hidden behind the vines. "

Charles Bender and Trish Hoffman agree that Carter Smith's previous experience as a photographer will definitely be another magic weapon to create tension and anxiety on the big screen. Hoffman said, "Smith has an incredibly unique perspective on camera framing, which is a unique shooting technique. Because most horror movies rely on dark or closed spaces, this movie takes place on a vast mountain top in broad daylight-of course, if successful, the characters' experiences will be even more horrible. For example, before we knew that climbing vine was the murderer of all killings, Smith took many strange angles with his camera, which always gave you an illusion, as if those evil creatures hiding in the dark were spying on them in the dark ... So from the soles of their feet, they felt a chill and their hearts were in their throats. It was not until later that we gradually realized that constantly sending out attack signals was actually an affirmation. This must be a shocking discovery, because at this time, climbing vines have spread all around all the characters-this is a very clever and wonderful visual way, which can maximize suspense. "

Self-confessed as a pure horror movie fan, Carter Smith has been looking for opportunities to create a brand-new fashion, because only in this way can he get rid of the old traces of the past. He said: "Usually, the focus of horror movies is how a group of people run hard, fight the murderer for survival, and then be killed one by one ... This is really interesting and doesn't require much brains. However, as a die-hard fan, I want to make a work that really excites people like me, so for me, the most creepy and disgusting thing I can think of is the idea of invading the human body, which may be a parasitic bacterium or egg, or of course it may be a murderous climbing vine all over the Mayan ruins. Imagine if your body is out of your control-is there anything more horrible than this? "

However, this is only part of the horror atmosphere created in the ruins of terror. Carter Smith continued: "The whole story is not just about a group of young people being attacked from outside. The real fear comes from the heart, from the fragile relationship between characters. In this life-threatening environment, what kind of inevitable results may their actions lead to? You should know these things, but you can't learn from books, you can only experience them on your own. The film explores some psychological dark areas, which is the fundamental reason why I like this story. " Trish Hoffman added: "The content of Ruins of Terror did not follow the routine. It tells a frightening story from the heart, and it can really penetrate from your skin into your flesh and blood. "