The Ugly

Invited by multiple murderer Rotondo to say whether he's sane enough to stand trial, publicity-seeking shrink Rebecca Hobbs is determined to control the assessment interviews. Instead, she's drawn into the killer's world, where past and present are fluid, logic's skewed, and figures called The Visitors haunt his disturbed mind. Writer/director Reynolds knows his horror movies, but this is no fanboy knock-off - having absorbed his influences, he's able to take bold formal risks. Although there's a nagging doubt that this is just a low concept horror pic, tricked out with clever stylistic flourishes and a complex narrative structure, it's an auspicious debut that refuses to resolve the psychological ambiguities or tie up the worrying loose ends.