- Actors: Paolo Rotondo, Rebecca Hobbs, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Roy Ward, Vanessa Byrnes
- Directors: Scott Reynolds
- Format: PAL
- Language English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Metrodome
- DVD Release Date: 7 Oct 2002
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004T8UD
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 57,219 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details |
Reviews
Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Dolby Digital 2.0
Interactive Menu
Scene Selection
Filmographies
Trailer
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Dolby Digital 2.0
Interactive Menu
Scene Selection
Filmographies
Trailer
From the Back Cover
Murder is in the eye of the beholder...
Seven meets Silence of the Lambs in a hip psycho-chiller combining macabre humour and disturbing horror. Simon Cartwright is self-confessed murderer whose switchblade victims don't conform to any set pattern. Celebrity lawyer Dr Karen Shoemaker wants to get inside his head to either certify him insane or prove he's cured.
And so starts a grisly journey into Simon's past with terrifying repercussions for Karen's present, as fantasy and reality mix in the dark corridors of twisted madness.The Ugly - it's not a pretty picture!
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Firstly, you can ignore the quotes on the back of the box about this film being like Seven and Silence Of The Lambs. While it does feature a serial killer and a psychiatrist attempting to get to know him, it's not quite like either.
Creating a warped and disorienting atmosphere from the very start, this film raises many questions that are not quite answered. What exactly is going on at the asylum - The guards and the head are distinctly odd. There also only seems to be one other inmate. Why does the head of the asylum get so worried about mention of "The Visitors". And what DOES happen at the end? The last part of the film manages to twist away from what you think you are watching and open up a whole new area of debate.
Filled with some very disturbing imagary, this film is cleverly bloodless. This doesn't mean that we don't see any killing - we certainly do - but any bleeding is suggested by copious amounts of thick black oily liquid. It all adds to the unreal sense of what is going on, producing the result that you don't quite trust what you're seeing.
This will not be everyone's cup of tea. Some will find it too confusing and avant-guarde. However, if you can handle something different and intelligent, you might find something of value in here.
It's a shame the DVD transfer isn't the best, and that it appears not to be in it's original cinema ratio. It would also have been nice to have a commentary from the director / Writer.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
On the surface, "The Ugly" appears to be a film about a psychiatrist interviewing a killer in a secure hospital regarding the motivations behind his crimes. However as the layers of the onion are peeled, it becomes more confusing. The strangely-clad director of the facility becomes ever more strange, and the two martial-arts loving nurse/security staff ever more violent and absurd in their treatment of their prisoner.
But when the psychiatrist actually begins seeing some of the entities described by her patient during her questioning sessions with him, the concept of what is really happening in the film begins to spiral away.
"The Ugly" is an engrossing film with a number of bizarre and unusual elements, and with an intriguing and at-first inexplicable ending. As sadly there is nothing in the way of any actor/director contributions or extras to the DVD, I shall have to be watching it again to piece together my own answers.
But when the psychiatrist actually begins seeing some of the entities described by her patient during her questioning sessions with him, the concept of what is really happening in the film begins to spiral away.
"The Ugly" is an engrossing film with a number of bizarre and unusual elements, and with an intriguing and at-first inexplicable ending. As sadly there is nothing in the way of any actor/director contributions or extras to the DVD, I shall have to be watching it again to piece together my own answers.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Ugly" is a story set in a secure psychiatric unit in New Zealand. A psychologist arrives to give an external opinion on the case of a multiple murderer, being held under a cruel regime by an eccentric governor and his orderlies.
As the film progresses, it raises questions of how some people end up on the inside of the bars and other people on the outside. The two orderlies have little else to occupy their time but to practise their martial arts punches on their hooded captive. The governor is unwelcoming, eccentric and offensive and turns a blind eye to the abuses inflicted on the prisoner. The visiting psychologist, although initially apparently sympathetic to the situation of the inmate, herself behaves in a strangely cruel way. A young attractive woman, she dresses slightly provocatively although her charms do little to endear anyone towards her. Her own interview method itself begins with soft support but eventually becomes frustrated and aggressive. And the prisoner himself, who was driven to his crimes by seeing and hearing ghouls pressuring him to kill again, is desperate to help the psychologist in any way he can, if he can just be let out of his cuffs ... just for a short time.
The whole atmosphere to this film is eerie and unusual. There only appear to be three institute staff, the two orderlies and the governor resident in the entire building. There also appears to be only one other patient, an unrestrained old lady with a pair of glasses that enable her to "see" her co-inmate's ghouls.
The story of the inmate's life and crimes is built up gradually and with good effect, the psychologist appearing with him in his memories as he relives what brought him to the institute. The pace of the film builds steadily, as questions are raised about just how much the governor knows ... or can possibly see ... regarding the supernatural ghouls that are plaguing their killer victim, and that the psychologist refuses to believe in.
The climax of the film is refreshingly dark and unusual, and overall "The Ugly", whilst it may not be everyone's cup of tea, certainly did it for me with its eerie stormy atmosphere, well acted weird characters, and the claustrophobic grimness of a bizarre reality within the walls of an isolated institute.
As the film progresses, it raises questions of how some people end up on the inside of the bars and other people on the outside. The two orderlies have little else to occupy their time but to practise their martial arts punches on their hooded captive. The governor is unwelcoming, eccentric and offensive and turns a blind eye to the abuses inflicted on the prisoner. The visiting psychologist, although initially apparently sympathetic to the situation of the inmate, herself behaves in a strangely cruel way. A young attractive woman, she dresses slightly provocatively although her charms do little to endear anyone towards her. Her own interview method itself begins with soft support but eventually becomes frustrated and aggressive. And the prisoner himself, who was driven to his crimes by seeing and hearing ghouls pressuring him to kill again, is desperate to help the psychologist in any way he can, if he can just be let out of his cuffs ... just for a short time.
The whole atmosphere to this film is eerie and unusual. There only appear to be three institute staff, the two orderlies and the governor resident in the entire building. There also appears to be only one other patient, an unrestrained old lady with a pair of glasses that enable her to "see" her co-inmate's ghouls.
The story of the inmate's life and crimes is built up gradually and with good effect, the psychologist appearing with him in his memories as he relives what brought him to the institute. The pace of the film builds steadily, as questions are raised about just how much the governor knows ... or can possibly see ... regarding the supernatural ghouls that are plaguing their killer victim, and that the psychologist refuses to believe in.
The climax of the film is refreshingly dark and unusual, and overall "The Ugly", whilst it may not be everyone's cup of tea, certainly did it for me with its eerie stormy atmosphere, well acted weird characters, and the claustrophobic grimness of a bizarre reality within the walls of an isolated institute.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Insanity Lurks Nearby
Ambitious Dr. Karen Schumaker(Rebecca Hobbs) arrives at an unnamed mental hospital, her presence having been requested by inmate Simon Cartwright(Paolo Rotondo), a mass murderer... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. Jonathon T. Beckett
Authentically original and twisted little gem from New Zealand.
A psychologist visits a serial killer in a mental institution to try and understand why he did what he did. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2010 by Puzzle box
green blood!!!
an average serial / psycho thriller ...would have been better if the blood in the film wasnt green,...
Published on 22 April 2009 by M. calder
not too sure about this.....
I bought this film coz it looked intereting and i like films that are confusing and make you think throughout. Which this film did. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2006 by Miis R. E. Gardner
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
