Ugly

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.

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.

Being Australian and a horror movie fan I'm always curious to see any made in Australia, or in 'The Ugly's case, New Zealand. It's a real battle to get genre films made Down Under and there have sadly been very few good ones over the years. 'The Ugly' is one of those few. It would be easy to dismiss this from the packaging as yet another serial killer thriller but no, it's actually a HORROR movie with a supernatural element (something which inexplicably seems to have passed by a few people, going my some of the user comments on this page!) I didn't recognize writer/director Scott Reynolds name at first, but later I realized that I've seen his 'Heaven' starring Martin Donovan, another very interesting movie. Paolo Rotondo who plays the killer is unknown to me but gives a memorable performance, and really helps this work, as does the inventive editing and playing with narrative, which deftly mixes the past and present, fantasy and reality. The stylized touches such as the black blood also made 'The Ugly' fascinating viewing. I'm highly critical of most contemporary horror movies, but I highly recommend 'The Ugly'. Great stuff!