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

Simon Cartwright is a multiple-murderer who has been in a mental hospital for the last five years. Karen Shoemaker is an over-ambitious doctor who tries to analyze his crimes through deep conversations about his childhood memories and adolescent traumas. The more Simon opens up to her, the more she's pulled into his introvert and haunted world of supernaturalism. Now, this sounds like yet another typical Silence of the Lambs rip-off, right? WRONG! It's pretty obvious where The Ugly found its inspiration and director Scott Reynolds surely knows his horror classics, but this is NOT just another fanboy-movie with nothing new to add. Reynold's script is very clever and extremely mesmerizing! Although the structure and plot aren't highly original, you constantly have the feeling you're watching an innovating, groundbreaking film. The happenings shown during the flashbacks constantly jump back and forth in time and form an entirely new structure by themselves. It's hard to explain, but fairly easy and interesting to follow while watching it. Not just the structure is fascinating, the pivot-character (Simon) and his background are a lot more interesting than any other TV-killer of the last ten years. Cold-heartedly portrayed by Paolo Rotondo, Simon Cartwright is mysterious and compelling personality who messes with your head! The Ugly actually is one of those rare gems that are scary! At least 5 sequences in this film will keep you on the edge of your seat and make your blood pump faster. These sequences are fairly gore as well, showing blood as black as the night itself. Yet, to point out at least one slightly negative aspect: the ending comes a bit abrupt and maybe it's a little too left open. The Ugly is a modest and rather anonymous production that certainly deserves more credit than it actually receives. Also the DVD-release is very poor with no extras or special treatments. It was made in New Zealand and those productions rarely ever get any attention (aside from Peter Jackson's initial splatter highlights `Bad Taste' and `Braindead'). Too bad, because the horror-industry desperately needs more quality titles such as this. Fans of horror and slick thrillers: check this one out! It's highly recommended.

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!

I´m watching "The Ugly" right now, and I think it is a really cool Movie, the Cut-scenes and the Camera-settings are great.Sometimes it is from Simons view (the Murderer) and sometimes it´s seen from the view of the victims (low sound from the view of a deaf woman)Sometimes it switches from reality to Simons Fantasy and back very fast and from the past (when he kills somebody(Blood isn´t red it´s black)) to the present situation (when hes in therapy)So its a great ThrillerI would rate it with 8/10