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In the greater family of B movie horror, The Ruins is a film that pretty much covers all its bases. Save for a 30-minute break between its opening scene "death of a stranger" and its second "death of one of the gang," the movie kills off or seriously injures someone just about on schedule. Its particular recipe for horror may not follow you home unless you happen to live in the middle of a tropical jungle or in a home reminiscent of a greenhouse. But with two amputations, a gruesome scene in which one of its characters pretty much cuts her own flesh off her body, vines that attack, flowers that scream, and creepy crawly things that get under skin and move, it certainly leaves you cringing, turning away, and yelling at the characters to watch out/run/not do what they're about to do.

Giving us reason to yell as well as laugh, The Ruins reiterates most of the major horror lessons that somehow never seem to have imprinted themselves on the brains of our quickly disappearing characters.

Four Americans on vacation abroad can disappear without a trace. If the cute blonde girl says she has a bad feeling, you should probably listen to her. Unless you are in a Disney movie, continuing down a path covered over by branches will not lead you to a magical world of hobbits or fairies. Going down into a dark pit without hero music playing in the background is a bad idea. Pairing sharp objects with rapidly dissolving sanity is an even worse idea. And on the off chance that you see yourself heading into a horror situation before you get there, make sure to invite a few random strangers along to take the first couple of falls.

In many ways, the story and events of The Ruins are as standard and predictable as you can get. But with its horror resting on something other than a psychopathic killer or a vengeful ghost, The Ruins also offers a unique tale that makes for some thinking that is not quite as familiar.

As I see it, The Ruins is almost the horror equivalent of the story of the Garden of Eden/the Fall of Man/the Curse of Sin. The movie is set in a lush tropical jungle. In the middle of that jungle is an ancient pyramid full of secrets (and knowledge) that remain yet undiscovered. And although our group of young Americans is never explicitly told not to go to the pyramid, there are a few signs that might tell most people to beware.

But arrive at the pyramid they do. Things start getting slightly fishy when they get close, but it is when one of them touches the green vines growing all over it that things really start to go wrong. Unable to leave and stuck on top of the pyramid, the group notices that not even animals come near the vines that surround them. After risking their lives trying to get to a tool to aid their escape, they discover that what they sought was actually the vine's red flowers pretending to be what they needed. And within hours of their arrival, they also discover that the vine is less a stationary threat avoidable by staying away as it is millions of snake-like tendrils just waiting to grab onto them and take them as their own.

The setup is the image of Satan's serpent multiplied by a thousand, his apple updated to match more current needs and desires, and the destructive and infectious nature of sin gruesomely played out in full color.

As our group of friends goes from realizing they have touched something evil to experiencing its effects, what we see is not pretty. First, the vines (sin) quietly and almost unnoticeably surround their prey. With each hour, they creep closer and closer as they seek out the very spots of weakness through which they might enter their victims. Finding those spots, they make no attempt to hide that they will attack us where we are weak. And once they have, they reveal that their first grasp is only the beginning of the complete takeover they have in mind.

With the vines first grabbing hold of their victims where they are hurt, and the group initially trying to rid themselves of their hold but cutting off or cutting out the parts of their body the vines have claimed, the imagery we see is actually quite evocative of the verses in Matthew that tell us, "if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away&ellips; and if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." Once the vines get into them, they realize they need to do whatever they can to get them out before they spread. And so it is with sin as well.

But unfortunately for them, they face the reality that the vines have already surrounded and/or infected them to an extent that they cannot cut out or avoid. And so, as The Ruins comes to an end, we also find a story of the only possible solution for that kind of situation—deliverance. No, Rambo doesn't suddenly appear on the scene and kill all the vines with a machine gun. They aren't rescued by a helicopter full of antidote-wielding scientists. Instead, in the end, the one who we all hope actually gets away is set free by nothing other than the blood of friends that covers her and a sacrifice of love that opens the door that she might escape.

The Ruins may be about as simple a horror movie as you can get. At times, you can't help but laugh. At others, you can just imagine the drinking games already being made up for its DVD release. But at its core, the message that The Ruins leaves us with is one of both great truth and great value. In this world, there is evil. That evil seeks nothing short of our death. But as infective, imprisoning, and deadly as that evil may be, there is hope in the knowledge that God has already given his life so that we may actually be free of the sin that entangles us. As Paul says in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."