Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

Simon (Paolo Rotundo) is a dangerous serialkiller, which is why it's a good thing he's locked away iDr. Marlowe's (Roy Ward) asylum - even if he's constantly mistreated by the place's orderlies (Paul Glover, Chris Graham). However, Simon's not getting any treatment for his condition, so he has asked to be re-assessed by Dr. Shumaker (Rebecca Hobbs), a talented but also publicity obsessed psychiatrist, who really gets his story out of him, how he (played as a 4 year old by Caelem Pope, as a 13 year old by Sam Wallace) by everyone, startng with his own mother (Jennifer Ward-Lealand), then by fellow students and finally co-workers. And if it wasn't for his school friend Julie (Beth Allen), who stood by him no matter what, he probably would have snapped much sooner. But eventually mum chased Julie away, and from there on he was continually pushed towards breaking point, resulting in an arrest for attacking two bullying co-workers (Steve Hall, Shane Bessant). That was still a minor incident though, his first murder came when he killed a girl (Cath McWhirter) who tried to pick him up at a bar. And he enjoyed it, though he later claimed voices made him do it. Eventually, he met Julie (now played by Vanessa Byrnes) again, and for a time, she manages to calm him down - until he finds out she has a boyfriend, and ... well, it doesn't end well for her or her boyfriend. All of this stories,.Simon is only all to happy to share with Dr. Shumaker, and she's ecstatic for sure, believing this the next step on her career ladder - without noticing he's only blaming her like a fiddle ...

Serialkiller movies were pretty much genre staple in the 1990s, and by 1997 all the tropes were well-established - and it's not that The Ugly doesn't build on them, and yet the film finds its own path, for one by mixing for different timelines that communicate with one another to make a whole, on the other by shifting perspectives, namely that of Simon and Dr. Shumaker) and this way creates competing realities - which creates a rather fascinating puzzle, which only really makes sense in the multi-layered finale- So in all, a pretty unusual but rather fascinating genre ride.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find The Ugly at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find The Ugly here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

Thanks for watching !!!