Man The Ruins is quite a read and a movie experience to watch. I'll just say that the concept is original and quite creepy. I first watched the movie before I discovered that it was based on a book. I would never forget the events that occurred from this movie. Let me just warn you that there's a lot of gore in it. So if you don't like to see a lot of blood and flesh-ripping from the body then you might want to avoid watching it. Reading the book might be the way to go but that too has a bit of description that might make you skip a sentence or two. The movie most certainly have cringe-worthy moments that will give you the creeps or make you cringe.So if you want to watch something out of the usual or the norm then definitely go watch The Ruins.
Anyhoo, after my movie experience of The Ruins i read the book. I still have somewhat similar experience that I had with the film with the book. I got to know the character better and felt their struggle dealing with something very alien to them. So which is better? the book or the movie? This one was kind of hard to choose an answer to because both medium had their strengths and weaknesses (sadly more weaknesses than strengths). I wouldn't mention them because it might make this blog post quite lengthy and I know you all are too busy to be reading my rant on something so here goes my answer is......the winner is the..... B-O-O-K.
I believe the book we get to know the character better (even though their decision making was quite puzzling and at times stupid).I felt more connected with the character from the book than for the movie. I think reading the book would give me quite a tense experience and make you want to watch the movie anyways. Also the villain was much believable and convincing in the book than in the movie. The movie, although had its moments, wasn't as engaging as the book. (even though both movie and book, in depth, had its flaws when it came to character development and story plot.) So definitely read the book first before you watch the movie.