Review of The Ugly (1997) by Brian C — 02 May 2008
It isn't often that a movie can capture the madness of a serial killer without making the killer seem pantomime or over-the-top. But this movie really captures the troubled soul that is Simon.
Karen, the doctor who is trying to get through to him, becomes pulled into his madness, and part of his games.
It is impossible to truly relate to Simon, which is what makes his madness very unnervinig. He sees Visitors who make him kill...yet he says the Visitors are ghosts of his victims. Which of course is contradictory. He had a rough childhood, where he was laughed at and beaten, but once again, nothing that would drive a person to killing so many people, including his first love.
Despite Karen's initial friendly approach, to her increasing impatience and anger towards Simon, she believes she is controlling him and getting through, but in reality it is the other way around.
Another nice touch was that all of the blood in the brutal killings was dark blue instead of bright red. Since we see everything through Simon's memories, it adds an unrealism to it all, which really shows Simon's detachment to what he was doing.
An excellent character driven thriller, that I highly recommend to anyone.
This review of The Ugly (1997) was written by Brian C on 02 May 2008.
The Ugly has generally received positive reviews.
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