The Ugly
Even in 1997, cinematic serial killers were a dime a dozen. And while the influence of S ilence of the Lambs looms large over director Scott Reynold’s The Ugly - introducing another caged psychotic whose methods and motivation are put under the microscope by an ambitious psychiatrist - the film makes a concerted effort to put a new twist on the story using clever camera tricks and a dislocated narrative that bends reality…and expectations. Staging her interview in a stylized asylum, Dr. Karen Schumaker (Rebecca Hobbs) hopes to get something out of killer Simon Cartwright (Paolo Rotondo) that his own doctor hasn’t managed to do in six years. Simon’s abusive childhood and learning disability seem like obvious red flags, but his scarred self-image and mysterious voices pile one causality atop another. And after Karen starts seeing her patient popping up in her weakened subconscious, there doesn’t seem to be anyeasy explanation for his madness. Full of consciously inventive camerawor...