I had not read the book, in fact, I didn't even know what the movie was about. I was bored one afternoon, so decided to go to a matinee. The theater was almost completely empty and I wondered if I had wasted another $7 on a horribly boring/lame scary movie. I didn't. I loved this film. Considering that the only horror movies getting made are crappy remakes of classics and asian films, The Ruins was a breath of fresh air.