Rating: 
Summary: So Ugly it's Beautiful
Review: Had it not been for some very favorable reviews on Internet horror sites, I might never have gotten past the schlocky cover art, which makes New Zealand director Scott Reynolds's second outing "The Ugly" look like just another generic monster movie mash. "The Ugly" is anything but. Let me give you an analogy: imagine a "Silence of the Lambs" where Clarisse Starling's initial interview with Hannibal Lecter goes poorly, and Lecter breaks free---with a razor blade. Magnify that nasty little outcome by a thousand. That, my friends, is what this grim, gruesome little charnel-house of a movie delivers, and, remarkably, on a shoestring budget. The plot, much like "Silence of the Lambs", is about psychologist Dr. Karen Shoemaker (played admirably by Rebecca Hobbs, who makes Jodie Foster's Special Agent Starling look like a piker), who visits vicious young serial killer Simon Cartwright in an insane asylum, where he is held in solitary confinement pending his trial. She wants to speak with him privately, free from the brooding, watchful stares of his sadistic jailers (played creepily to the last by Shane Bessant and Steve Hall, both of whom added immeasurably to my viewing enjoyment) and the brooding inquisitiveness of asylum director Dr. Marlowe (played by Roy Ward, who is so quietly bizarre that he qualifies for a movie all by himself). She wants to probe into his mind. She wants to gain his trust. She wants to unfetter him, take the shackles off this civilized savage, probe deep into his sick little brain. And a sick brain it is indeed---Simon Cartwright makes Hannibal Lecter look as sane as George Plimpton. We're introduced, in a series of sequences that are superbly, craftily, artfully edited, to young Simon Cartwright, his school-days tormentors, and the young woman who idolizes him but is cast out of his life by his deranged, domineering, and doomed mother (played by Jennifer Ward-Lealand, who combines the worst aspects of "Mommy Dearest" and "Carrie"). We see the young Cartwright tortured, see his personality crushed---and, inevitably, watch him fight back. Unfortunately, Cartwright liberates himself by turning into a vicious serial killer urged on by demonic 'Visitors' and incarnated in an evil alter-ego he calls "The Ugly", which is bad for his victims but good for the movie. "The Ugly", incidentally, comes from the story "The Ugly Duckling", which comes to symbolize the young, tortured Cartwright's self-image. The film is unfailingly stylish, and given the budgetary constraints, beautifully filmed and masterfully edited (with the help of a number of Peter Jackson's crew). The acting is also superb: the intricate, seething mindgame between Hobbs's Dr. Shoemaker and Paolo Rotondo's Cartwright puts anything in the Hannibal Lecter series to shame, and the chemistry between the two fuels the raging gas fire that this movie quickly becomes. But really, "The Ugly" is Paolo Rotondo's film, and the young New Zealander manages to portray one of the most charming, calculating, and utterly mercurial cold-blooded killers in cinematic history. His performance is mesmerizing, and it's a shame his career has pretty much stalled ever since. Finally, a warning: this is a deeply engrossing, horrifying, and seriously depressing film. The imagery is creepy and stark, and the colors remind me of Dario Argento's work, but the film is bleak; this is not a feel-good film. That said, Reynolds conjures up a wickedly disturbing, eerily beautiful film that must be seen to be believed. Have a nice, steadying scotch, and let the games begin!
Rating:
Summary: Riveting... The best movie I've ever seen!
Review: I bought this movie used at Blockbuster for $1.99. The box said it was unrated, and to be perfectly honest I was hopping for gory violence and some cheap t&a. What I got was the scariest movie I've ever seen. As a film minor in college, I could get into some of the technical aspects that made the film superior, but in reality very few people are interested in that sort of stuff. Want proof that it's scary? I'm a fraternity brother who forced my other brothers to watch this movie with me. During one scene I had brothers falling off couches, screaming, and hugging their girlriends. One young lady was so visibly shaken she left to cry in the bathroom. The performances were excellent, especially Jennifer Ward-Lealand's, who played a dominating, manic depressive mother who was unable to cope with her husbands leaving her. This is the most genuinely frightening movie I've ever seen, and that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling and Captiveting!
Review: I just picked this movie up today at a used bookstore. A good friend of mine is a Horror movie fan and I thought it would be fun to watch it. Judgeing it by it's cover, it looked like just another gory slaher flick filled with blood and a paper thin plot. Boy am I glad that I dished out the $8.50 to add this to my collection. The acting is a little shaky at times but the acters are able to pull off their characters very well. The beauty of the film is it's abiliy to make you feel sorry for Simon who is the intagonist of the film. The film documents Simons tortured childhood and oppression by his cold,domineering mother. His childhood has Simon suffer from extream dementia and visual hallucinations(or are they?) in the form of the "Uglies". The Uglies come in the form of mutilated gouls who taunt and urge Simon into committing gastly murders with a razorblade. The movie doesn't pull any punches with it's delivery and is shot beautifuly with what I'm sure was a limited budget. "The Ugly" will easly make my list of best horror movies along with "The Ring" and "The Shining". If your a fan of Horror this is with out a doubt a must see.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a really good horror movie!
Review: I ran across this beauty while watching the BoogeyMan DVD that came out around last halloween. I immeadately started looking for it and finally bought it for my birthday. What a treat! The movie makes you think. It sucks you in with twists and turns. It is not your typical slasher movie at all. I put this one up there with my all time favs, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Evil Dead. No real horror fan will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding mind-bending serial killer masterpiece
Review: I rented this DVD (unrated version) here in Canada and can't tell you how amazing I felt it was...an exceptional achievement on virtually every level. I did want to comment on someone else's review where he indicated that the film lost its sync sound partway through. That would be incorrect. This was during a scene where the murderer is pursuing a deaf girl and we are shown the scene from both his point of view (screaming loud music) and hers (silent) -- a jarring and ingenious effect that exemplifies the level of thought and creativity that has gone into what has to be considered a modern horror masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Strange and suspenseful with touches of horror
Review: I thought "The Ugly" had an original plot, but then I found that it wasn't so original. But the director did a really great job on making New Zealand's first movie. With most horror movies, the camera shots are all positioned steady and still, yet I find that "The Ugly" has some shaky camera shots [the parts where the killer murders his victims], which I think it makes it more realistic. The movie leaves the viewers with the question, "Should I give my sympathy to a psycho killer or should I be against him?" The movie gives the viewers flashbacks of the killer's [Paolo Rotondo] bloody murders and also his abused childhood memories -- that's where the compassion starts taking place. I think Paolo Rotondo should make more movies; I find his acting superb in this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A 'beautiful' Horror Film!
Review: It is hard to spend some money watching new horror movies nowadays, since we don't really know what we might get ourselves into: But this! This is a very groundbreaking horror-slasher movie! The story is somewhat reminiscent of 'The Silence of the Lamb' where we have this psychologist who is trying to dive into the mind of a serial killer (who kills without a pattern). When he kills, he does it because he 'loves killing' and the psychologist doesn't like his answer to this. You will feel the loneliness of the killer as he is being condemned to live his life struggling with his split ego - The Ugly, but will you ever forgive him for his crimes through his reasoning of 'The Visitors', which dominates the whole idea of what the movie represents? The distortions of images, the play of color and shot composition are truly groundbreaking for a horror movie. The closest to this movie in terms of its visual integrity is Oliver Stone's 'Natural Born Killer'. You won't regret owning this one: It's a MASTERPIECE of all horror/slasher movies. The violence is pretty disturbing, but not over the top (look at the blood when watching the film). One true example that horror movies can be turned into a majestic works of art!
Rating:
Summary: One of The Best Horror/Thrillers I've Ever Seen!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Once again I can thank the Boogeymen DVD for introducing me to this film. This movie is one of the best horror/thriller movies I've seen in years. It's powerful, extremely intelligent and especially unique. It is the quintesential thinking man's horror movie. The Ugly is unique in the fact that it takes us inside the mind of a serial killer and why he's driven to do such unspeakable things. Paolo Rotondo is magnificent in his role as serial killer Simon Cartwright. The plot is especially rich and deeply interesting. It will keep you off balance and continually guessing. Simon seems to be a shy young man with a troubled past. People constantly making fun of him and spitting all over his existance. Well he gets his revenge to say the least. But why does he do what does? Enter Psychiatrist Dr. Karen Schumaker. She believes she's getting into the mind of Simon and what drives and motivates him in killing his victims. He is very convincing and seems very honest but is this just an act? Is she getting inside his mind or is he getting inside hers? This movie is not a typical slasher film, it has no demons or supernatural beings, but it is incredibly chilling in the fact it seems very believable. It has just enough blood (the black blood of New Zealand) and will startle you here and there. This movie will be added to my collection and if you have the pleasure of viewing "The Ugly" I'm sure you will add it to yours too. It is an "Instant Classic"
Rating: 
Summary: The Ugly = So Lovely
Review: The DVD says unrated... I bought the DVD and it has no extra footage than the VHS I rented last year. Now, I'm not saying that the DVD isn't unrated but I'm surprised that a movie like this (which is graphic in some areas) could be unrated to be rented by the public. Perhaps the American VHS is different and had footage edited out. Either way, this is the same version as the VHS tape that I rented here in Australia. You can find some secret trailers on this disc by pressing "right" on your remote which should highlight the trimark logo. Enter that and you'll get to see 2 trailers of other movies. The quality of the DVD itself is decent enough, I don't think it was that great to begin with when they actually released the movie onto video so this is probably the best you can get for this movie. The Ugly should be seen by all horror fans who don't mind seeing a film that is psychological and doesn't blend in with the mainstream horror movies out there.
Rating: 
Summary: A frightening Actor
Review: The Ugly is, indeed, a frightening movie.Just about every character in it is scary. Paolo Rotondo as serial killer Simon Cartwright is especially good. Rotondo doesn't look menacing, nor does he try to, and that gives authenticity to his performance. But the actor who mesmerized me is Roy Ward, Simon Cartwright's doctor. Ward looks and talks as if his main intention is to send chills through every part of your body. And when he tells Rebecca Hobbs' character that he has seen the uglies too, watch out! Right now, I'd see anything Roy Ward is in. His Dr. Marlowe is one eerie, unforgettable performance.
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