The Ugly

This movie had something original :introducing the serial killer after all that he has done was a good idea indeed .But ,after about fifteen minutes,it's the same old song:the shrink,the wicked mother,the young boy whom she treated badly.We've seen that before ,and a long time ago.Hitchcock's motherS had already told the whole story (I will only mention "strangers on a train" and Michael Powell did the same for the fathers ("peeping tom").Few ideas are really exciting here:we might, at a pinch, appreciate the scene when the shrink hesitates to release the prisoner from his handcuffs.Then a violent scene happens :is it in the psychiatrist's mind? or in the monster's?

On the minus side,there's also a very unfriendly look at the psychiatric nurses ,whose works in real life must not be that much easy.The Ratched syndrome again.Pointless hints at Andersen's famous duckling tale.

The Ugly is a pretty good movie up until the unbelievable and unremarkable ending. While the story isn't very original, the director is obviously a fan of Norman Bates, it does hold the viewers interest and one is drawn into the story and looks forward to what will happen next. I do however have a complaint about the film. The ending is stupid and as mentioned above, unbelievable. One previous reviewer stated in their review that "some things are better left unexplained". It is my feeling that endings like the one in The Ugly are the result of a writer/director who doesn't know how to end their movie interestingly. It's not clever scripting but bad writing. Overall The Ugly is an okay horror movie. It does have a fair bit of suspense and a couple of good shocks but nothing too noteworthy. Prior to the ending The Ugly rated an 8 but as a whole rates a 5 out of 10.

I wanted to see The Ugly when it was released in cinemas, but I didn't actually get a chance to watch it until I rented it a few years later. Now I regret not seeing it in the cinemas when I had the chance - this movie would have been awesome on the big screen!!

Simon Cartwright, a convicted serial killer, is a patient at a local mental institution under the care of two abusive orderlies and the sadistic Dr. Marlowe. Simon requests outsider Dr. Karen Shoemaker to re-evaluate his mental state, and through a series of interviews she learns more about his past and about his crimes. The use of disjointed and out of order flashbacks tease us with glimpses into Simon's past, and as the movie progresses, we see Karen being drawn further and further into Simon's fantasy world. As she begins to be affected mentally, so too are the viewers.

There's been a lot of criticism over this movie, mostly claims that the characters weren't believable enough or that the SFX were bad. To really appreciate this film you have to pull your mind away from what's conventional and try to see what the director is trying to do. Scott Reynolds isn't trying to follow some set 'horror movie' pattern or copy a particular movie genre. In the movie, "The Ugly" is a monster inside Simon's head, and that's what Reynolds is trying to do- get inside our heads, disturb us and shake us up a bit. This is done through the creepy atmosphere of red and blue colour themes, and the black blood adds to the surreal mood of the movie. Some of the characters are a bit unbelievable but this adds a 'Twin Peaks' feel to the film. And as for the ending, some things are better left unexplained, people!!

This movie is very violent and creepy, and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you like it, tell all your friends about it! I give it a 8.5/10

I'd never heard of this film before viewing the "Boogeymen" compilation, and was inspired to hunt it down afterwards, believing I might have missed out on a horror film of stunning importance. Indeed, Paolo Rotondo earned his award for his portrayal of Simon, a shy, good-looking and incredibly violent serial killer. Paolo makes his character sympathetic as we flash back to his childhood and see him beaten by his schoolmates and humiliated further by his weirdo mother. We don't blame him when he kills her. We understand, even if it's on a primal level, the bursts of anger that make him kill again and again. We even hope he will win the girl of his dreams, though when he does, we know it's only a matter of time before she too falls under the razor blade. Simon is a complex character, the sort who stops to rescue an injured dog with the fresh corpse of his most recent murder still in the backseat, or refrains from murdering a little girl because she is deaf, and therefore as damaged as he is.

The film that surrounds Simon is unpleasant, to say the least. It is disgusting and difficult to watch and not always easy to follow. The ambiguous ending left me just as confused as I was when the film began. It was as though the people who made this film couldn't decide whether they wanted a straightforward story of a serial killer, or a dark fantasy about demons and the supernatural powers of the twisted mind. Everything is hinted at, but nothing is verified, and at films end, you are left to make up your own mind. I couldn't help but feel disappointed, especially since it seemed that Mr. Rotondo put his all into a character for a film that just wasn't worth the effort. It left me feeling sick and depressed.

Intelligent, attractive psychiatrist Karen Schumaker (Rebecca Hobbs) shows up at a mental hospital to re-assess Simon (Paolo Rotondo)--A handsome, soft-spoken schizo serial killer who left no pattern for a compulsive string of grisly mass murders. Flashbacks reveal childhood abuse at the hands of taunting bullies and an imposing, domineering mother and of his razor-wielding murder spree. It's all because of "The Ugly," his scarred alter ego that compels him to kill. Simon turns out to be so brilliant, he not only gets under Karen's skin... but inside her head as well.

This unique thriller has excellent lead performances, flashy editing, stylish direction and top-notch production values, but the director blurs the line between troubling reality and twisted fantasy far too often and tacks on a clichéd and disappointing ending. An unusual touch was the usage of ink-black blood for the murder scenes. I don't care what the metaphoric implications of that choice are, I found it to be both annoying and ineffective.

Despite those flaws, THE UGLY is certainly worth watching and showcases many talents (in front of and behind the camera) to watch for in the future.