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 About Face: The Lamb of God
 The M1nute
 Braindead
 A Game with No Rules
 The Irrefutable Truth about Demons
 I'm Not Harry Jenson

Synopsis

In this first feature from writer/director Scott Reynolds, serial killer Simon (Paolo Rotondo) has been locked up for the last five years, and is being interviewed by psychologist Dr Karen Schumaker (Rebecca Hobbs). Narrated flashbacks reveal Simon's past, the demons in his present, and the imminent potential for another killing. Karen drags the truth out of Simon, but it brings things to a terrifying and enigmatic end. The Ugly won many rave reviews: Variety called it "a tricky, stylish horror", praising the film's suspense, visuals, and casting.

Credits (15)

 Paolo Rotondo

Paolo Rotondo
Actor

 Scott Reynolds

Scott Reynolds
Writer, Director

 Jonathon Dowling

Jonathon Dowling
Producer

See all credits ›

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Produced by

Essential Films

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Related Titles (8)

 A Game with No Rules

A Game with No Rules

Short Film, 1993 (Full Length)

Early Scott Reynolds short

 The M1nute

The M1nute

Short Film, 1992 (Full Length)

An earlier short film directed by Reynolds

 The Irrefutable Truth about Demons

The Irrefutable Truth about Demons

Film, 2000 (Trailer)

Another first feature in the horror genre

 Braindead

Braindead

Film, 1992 (Trailer)

More gore and horror

 About Face: The Lamb of God

About Face: The Lamb of God

Television, 1985 (Full Length)

Sunday night horror about a couple trapped in the countryside as the sheep start getting restless

 I'm Not Harry Jenson

I'm Not Harry Jenson

Film, 2009 (Trailer and Excerpts)

Another film debut involving serial killers

 Larger Than Life

Larger Than Life

Short Film, 1997 (Full Length)

More horror featuring Rebecca Hobbs

 Bad Taste

Bad Taste

Film, 1988 (Trailer)

A classic gore movie from NZ

Quotes

With its complex flashback structure and anti-naturalistic colour scheme, the film forces us to inhabit The Ugly's half-remembered, half-hallucinated world and to share in his shrink's increasing sense of disorientation. 

– Nigel Floyd, writing in Time Out

The Ugly is a small movie and all the better for it: tight, compressed and with a singularity of purpose. At its best, it is claustrophobic and genuinely creepy, with strokes of classic Kiwi Gothic in its flashbacks...and boldly stylised in its present.  

– Philip Matthews, in The Listener

Awards

1998 Fantasporto International Festival of Cinema (Portugal)
Best Actress: Rebecca Hobbs

1997 Rome Fantastic Film Festival
Best Screenplay: Scott Reynolds 
Best Actor: Paolo Rotondo

1997 TV Guide Film and Television Awards
Best Contribution to Design - Film: Richard Taylor, for prosthetics
Best Design - Film: Grant Major

 

Other festivals include
London, Toronto, Montreal, San Sebastian Horror Film Festival, Indian Film Festival, Paris Film Festival, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Gerardmer (France)