Search - The Ruining on DVD

Shaggy dog "Horror Flick"

D. Piper | Central Ohio | 02/03/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I really like Patrick Warburton's work and bought this because he was featured..ha! They put his name on case cover but he has a non speaking walk on in a crowded smoky nudie bar,,,The disc feature about the making was far more interesting than the flick itself,I felt less cheated about the purchase when I saw how sincere and disappointed the makers were about the acceptance of their product,,this movie has damn little plot and lots of nudity,,some incest and plenty of backwoods sinnin if thats yr bag go for it,,otherwise shy away from it. I see much similarity between those losers who think they can sing on American Idol and those directors/producers who think they have a movie/story to tell..oh well,,,I had to give one star as no star is not an option, Becky is a scantily clothed adult who thinks she is a dog,,leading to my shaggy dog (a story without any real point) header choice."

Garbled garbage

Baron Hausenpheffer | Texas, USA | 06/26/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

""The Ruining" is one of the most maligned movies in Troma's library, and it isn't hard to see its detractors' points. The film quality is abysmal in some sections, and the plot is more than a little difficult to follow. In fact, there is a part near the end where it seems like a whole scene has gone missing. The writer/director would have done well to make the backstory behind this whole tale a little less obscure.

This movie really only has two things going for it: a profound, surreal weirdness and a strong ending. The first of these two could have really made the movie if the bizarre elements had been more coherent. I mean, a town addicted to blue eggs with some sort of psychadelic properties, combined with the story of a girl with a canine brain? That kind of premise could have been pure gold if handled by Troma's in-house team or by a more competent outside director. Here, it's just garbled garbage. Like I said, the ending is good, but it's kind of like an after-dinner mint after eating spoiled cabbage for an hour and a half.

All told, "The Ruining" serves as an hour-long morality tale on the risk of buying one of Troma-licensed (as opposed to Troma-produced) titles. Some of those, like "Go to Hell!" and "Fatty Drives the Bus", are a total laugh-riot, as good or better than Troma's own work. On the other hand, there's plenty of crap like "The Ruining" and "Alien Blood" that simply makes you shake your head, and not in an amused way. This isn't as bad as "Alien Blood", but it's close. Avoid."

One word: Brilliant!!

Ton | the Netherlands | 07/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Made over a period of no less than ten years under terrible circumstances and loaded with bad luck, this is one of the best horror films of the past decades. It has the intelligence of other recently made low-budget films and the atmosphere of the beautiful works we saw in the late seventies and early eighties. Due to a lot of rip-offs and other unforeseen bad luck (wonderfully explained in the extra's on the DVD) the only surviving print was the workprint, which wasn't in the best of shape, but weirdly enough the scratches and sometimes slightly incorrect colors only add to the atmosphere of this wonderful, shocking and entertaining piece of art. We can only thank Troma for deciding to give this masterpiece a release in spite of the technical imperfections rather that not releasing it at all. For anyone with an interest in the wonderful horror of decades ago and the sinister and disturbing look of serious terror this is one film not to miss!"