The Ugly

The Ugly is an awesome and unknown experience. If you've seen it, it's kinda like you're in on a really good secret. The direction of this movie amazes me. Scott Reynolds definitely has his own style of directing and is a great storyteller. Some of the things he pulls to tell his story actually surprise me. I don't want to get into the plot because the less you know the better the movie is. Paolo Rotondo does an amazing job playing the character of Simon. He comes off as extremely believable. The whole creepy cast is actually good. The orderlies crack me up and Simon's doctor is beyond eerie. The Ugly is one of the best horror films I've stumbled across in years.

Sort of what you'd get if you took SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and cross-bred it with Neil Jordan's IN DREAMS. Going for a Lynchian feel, director Reynolds owes more to the spookily dreamlike imagery evoked by the writings of Ramsey Campbell. Images make you queasy, disturb and profoundly frighten you, yet you can't seem to quite tear yourself away from them, as if you're having a nightmare with your eyes wide open.

As singled out in other reviews here, Paolo Rotundo manages to temper the character of Simon with a sense of humanity, something you'd never dream of associating with a serial killer. This hearkens back to earlier little diamonds-in-the-rough from Down Under, like Richard Franklin's ROAD GAMES, David Blyth's DEATH WARMED UP or the more fantasy-oriented films of Peter Weir like THE LAST WAVE or PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK.

Like SE7EN before it, it disturbs and disorients you on some pretty deep levels, then gut-punches you with a shockingly unexpected ending, which may not make it something you want to see over and over again. But for fans of this particular genre, it's definitely worth a look.

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.

New Zealand is not a country that instantly springs to mind when one is asked the question of "which countries make good films", and that's for good reason; as they haven't made all that much. One film they have made, however, is this one; The Ugly. And it's not bad at all. While never brilliant, and certainly not matching the claim on the DVD box (on par with Seven and Silence of the Lambs, this is not), The Ugly still represents a minor success within the overpopulated psychological thriller sub-genre. Getting this sort of movie right is difficult because the auteur needs to find just the right balance between scares and intrigue, all the while ensuring that it remains believable. While Scott Reynolds hasn't managed to pull this off to a massively high standard; he's done well in capturing the essence that the film needs, so kudos to him for that. The story follows a psychiatrist that is brought in to analyse Simon Cartwright; a notorious and extremely mental serial killer. However, as she gets deeper into his mind, she finds it increasingly harder to escape...

One thing I love about productions made in countries that don't mass-produce movies is the way that the local accents and dialect always find their way into the movie. The Ugly features lots of thick Australian accents, and it's nice to see in my opinion, as it firmly establishes the movie in it's home country. The film is at it's eerie best when our 'hero' is telling of his crimes and why he committed them. Just like he does with the psychiatrist, Simon Cartwright draws us into his world and it's a fascinating ride to be on. However, this asset is also the film's downfall as the action is never fantastically intriguing, and the plot tends to wander off at times which doesn't allow the viewer to stay in tune with the movie, thereby hindering it somewhat. However, the foreboding atmosphere and interesting array of characters ensure that the film never comes to a complete halt and it's short running time makes sure that the film is efficient and doesn't waste time on needless elements. I certainly recommend this movie, just as you long as you know that it's no Silence of the Lambs.

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.