Just so...so bad

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The successful psychologist Dr. Karen Schumaker (Rebecca Hobbs) comes to a mental institution directed by Dr. Marlowe (Roy Ward) to evaluate the dyslexic serial-killer Simon "The Ugly" Cartwright (Paolo Rotondo). Simon discloses the sad story of his life, bullied at school and abused by his mother Evelyn Cartwright (Jennifer Ward-Lealand). His only friend Julie was separated from him by his mother when he was a teenager. Simon claims that he hears voices that force him to kill. When Dr. Schumaker earns his trust, she discovers what is going inside Simon's head."The Ugly" is an original film with a different combination of drama, thriller and horror. The two nurses are nasty and the plot keeps the attention of the viewer until the very last scene. Unfortunately the conclusion is disappointing and gives the sensation that something is missing to be a great film. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "The Ugly- O Maníaco" ("The Ugly – The Maniac")

Really a spoiler, but you might consider the idea. And resolution of plot holes. What is truth? as the man said. Rather than being a follow the dots type of story, how about going to the end and working backwards. Ugly duckling has to find a mirror to notice that he is all beautiful now. Who is Simon's mirror, and where is he residing, in prison or an abandoned hospital. Cue rather peculiar orderlies,psychologist and patient all with powers beyond any control. Answer: simulcra of past incarceration. Cue rather dopey female psychologist: newspaper review image devised by Simon. Cue which murders happened: possibly only his mother, seems fair to Simon. Cue aberrant pictures prior to any abuse: fellows already schizoid. Cue what happened at the end: Simon locates the newspaper psychologist, cuts her throat, thus freeing himself of his "victims" hanging about, by presuming that now she must atone for the murders since he is beautiful now in the mirror so he must now be the swan and she the UGLY DUCKLING. Understandings. All of the serial murders did not happen except in his mind, which is why he can deny the charge his head tells him Serial killer And not kill the deafish girl This is then why also the girl did not identify him as her brothers murderer People shift a bit in NZ and there may have been no knowledge of the house/murder info to the girl. "Kill the Bitch"; probably what Simon heard most of, in reference to his fathers new girlfriend from his alcoholic mother and this imprinted.Great film, under-seen. Not one for gore merchants. Pleasant dreams. And if you are a psycho you really don't need excuses to kill just opportunity. Way better than S of the L and Seven which were pretty lame as to tension or shock. Love that blood.

I found THE UGLY to be pretty enjoyable overall. The problem is that no one seems to have any REAL idea what the hell happened in the film. Now, I don't mind a film that makes you think - but I don't like it when so many things are left vague that you can never truly make heads-or-tails of where the storyline is going.Simon is a serial-killer (who claims he's not a serial killer) who seems to have a dual-personality that her refers to as "The Ugly". Simon claims that The Ugly is responsible for the murders and that "The Visitors" tell him to kill. A famous female psychologist comes in to analyze Simon and try to get a look inside his head. There's a lot of hard to decipher stuff going on, including the tumultuous relationship with his mother and his boyhood friend Julie, allusions to the fact that Simon is somehow psychic, that all of this may just be a dream, all the blood shown is tar-black, the name Karen (the psychiatrists name) showing backwards in many scenes, shopping carts all over the place, etc...that I just couldn't wrap my head around...THE UGLY is definitely interesting and keeps you guessing - the problem is, it never provides the answers. Playing out like some sort of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS meets THE USUAL SUSPECTS, but with no real resolution (at least none that I could figure out). In many scenes it seems that Simon may be a master-manipulator, other times he seems completely sincere. Some things that happen later in the film negate things that happened before. Basically, I couldn't explain what really happened at all - but it's still an entertaining watch. The other main problem I had that while some of the performances were decent, others were sub-par. The two "thug" security guards at the mental hospital were COMPLETELY unbelievable - as though ANY mental hospital would employ such degenerates. Either way - I'd recommend THE UGLY for horror/thriller fans - just understand that unless you find something that I didn't in the narrative - you WILL NOT walk away from this one with any solid answers...7.5/10

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!