Themes: Doctors and Patients, Disfigured Criminals, Mind Games
Main Cast: Paolo Rotondo, Rebecca Hobbs, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Roy Ward, Vanessa Byrnes
Release Year: 1997
Country: NZ
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Housed inside the grimy walls of a horrific New Zealand asylum there sits a serial killer waiting to be determined sane enough to stand trial. The mental hospital is run by the sinister Dr. Marlowe, who looks the other way when his thuggish orderlies occasionally rough up the inmates. Into this hellish place comes the cocky Dr. Karen Shoemaker, a psychiatrist famed for having made major breakthroughs with another murderer. Though Marlowe thinks that no one could reach Simon Cartwright, the killer, Shoemaker is determined to try, so, with Marlowe watching behind a two-way mirror, she begins the first of many chilling sessions with the unrepentant Simon. A horror film that draws some of its best bits from other slasher movies, while also adding a few interesting twists of its own, this directorial debut from New Zealand director Scott Reynolds follows the winding course of these sessions, presenting pieces from Simon's grim life and graphically gory murders via flashback. As time passes, Shoemaker comes to trust the placid-seeming Simon and asks that his shackles be removed. Shortly thereafter she learns that he hears voices urgently telling him to kill and kill again. Dr. Shoemaker must then work even harder to control her dangerous patient and her growing terror. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Cast
Paolo Rotondo - Simon Cartwright
Rebecca Hobbs - Dr. Karen Shoemaker
Jennifer Ward-Lealand - Simon's Mother
Roy Ward - Dr. Marlowe
Vanessa Byrnes - Julie
P. Glover - Phillip; Christopher Graham - Robert; Jon Brazier - Frank
Credit
Maura Fay - Casting, Robin Murphy - First Assistant Director, Scott Reynolds - Director, Wayne Cook - Editor, Victoria Kelly - Composer (Music Score), Richard Taylor - Makeup Special Effects, Grant Major - Production Designer, Simon Raby - Cinematographer, Jonathan Dowling - Producer, Dick Reade - Sound/Sound Designer, Scott Reynolds - Screenwriter
The Ugly is a 1997New Zealandhorror/thriller film, the first feature directed and written by Scott Reynolds. It was nominated for best film awards at festivals in New Zealand, Portugal and the United States.[1]
A criminal pyschologist begins a series of interviews with a mental patient/serial killer named Simon Cartwright. As the interviews progress, the doc is drawn into Simon's world and seduced by his boyish charms. But as she delves deeper into his psyche she discovers that Simon, who claims to hear voices telling him to kill, may not be so crazy after all.
Awards
The film received several award nominations and several wins. Wins include: Best Actor-Paolo Rotondo "FantaFestival 1997", International Fantasy Film Award, Outstanding first feature film-Scott Reynolds, and Best Actress- Rebecca Hobbs "Fantasporto 1997", Best Film "New Zealand Film and TV Awards 1997" and many others.
