Cube - Film Review

Although my readers know I'm a huge fan of slasher flicks, I'd vehemently debate that the sub-genre of horror that is nearest and dearest are the "deadly-scenario" films. Yeah, yeah, that's not a real name for a sub-genre, but I'm essentially describing the types of horror films where people are trapped/isolated in some type of hostile setting where they have to work together to survive. If you're looking for examples, I'd point to Deep Blue Sea, The Thing, and Night of the Living Dead to name a few. Of course, this particular movie also applies, so I performed my duty by grabbing my popcorn and watching a bunch of strangers fight for their lives!

*

Where You Can Find It: I saw this one on Amazon Video where it is available for rent/purchase.

General Information 
Cube is an independent horror film that originally released on 11 September 1998. It served as the directorial debut for Vincenzo Natali (who also co-wrote it) with Trimark Pictures distributing. It is the first of the Cube trilogy with Cube 2: Hypercube and Cube Zero releasing in 2002 and 2004 respectively. The film was a smashing success in theaters as it raked in over $9 million with only a small budget of $350,000. Cube holds an above-average Metascore of 61 on Metacritic with a similar 63% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It won some praise at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival, where it debuted, and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group announced its intent to remake the film in 2015.

The Story

Seven strangers wake up inside a strange cube-like structure that is comprised of identical rooms that are occasionally armed with lethal traps. The strangers come from a myriad of different backgrounds and each wear jumpsuits with their names emblazoned upon them. Together, they'll have to overcome mounting suspicions and paranoia to try and escape the labyrinthian architecture they've been imprisoned in. 

Something I want to immediately point out that makes this film special is its use of mathematics when it came to designing the infamous "Cube." I haven't heard of too many films that had to hire a mathematical consultant, but this one apparently did, and it shows. There's a lot of ways that Natali uses mathematical figures and equations to really flesh out the enclosed world this film presents. This ranges from explaining how the Cube works to just how big the Cube is. This is done gradually and relatively organically and may just be one of the more fascinating ways of incorporating math into narrative world-building.

**

Yay, Math!

Generally speaking, the plot is pretty straight-forward and simple. The momentum for the story begins immediately after the credits as the characters begin their escape. Generally speaking, the plot rarely deviates from its focus on escape as the protagonists carry a great deal of urgency brought about by the acknowledgement that the facility has no food or water. This minimalist approach is interesting, but makes the characters lack depth, which hurts the story later on when it attempts to develop its main characters. For example: Quentin (played by Maurice Dean Wint) self-identifies as a policeman and leader, but undergoes some massive changes later that generally felt unearned and confusing. A good deal of the internal conflict within the group of survivors feels forced because of this, which is only further exacerbated by the overacting of the cast.

Special Effects/Atmosphere

Like the story, Cube's special effects are rather minimalist as every room in the cube is almost completely identical with the exception of different colored backgrounds. This makes sense as Natali only had one room of the Cube actually built. The change of colored panels is the only way that he differentiates what rooms the characters are in during the movie, and I applaud his ability to pull this off in a convincing manner.

With the exception of the room with the sound sensors, most of the traps and action set-pieces betray the film's budget. The traps generally consist of wires and/or crude CGI, while scenes that involve physical conflict are generally handled just off screen. It's pretty impressive considering what Natali had to work with, but it's caused Cube to age poorly as shinier, higher-budget flicks like Escape Room and Saw 2 have since released.

***

Okay, I'll admit this one looked pretty awesome

The Acting

Although Andrew Miller (who plays Kazan) does a fairly good job with a difficult role, I'd characterize everyone else's performances as decent-to-outright-awful. Right off the bat, the actors make a bad first impression when Maurice Dean Wint and Nicole de Boer (plays Leaven) overact to the point of comedy in one of the starting scenes. Nicky Guadagni (plays Dr. Holloway) doesn't really help this impression either as she fluctuates from caring medical professional to conspiracy theorist. Some of the shoddy acting is certainly a product of the poorly written character development, however there are definitely plenty of scenes where the overacting is extremely hammy.

The Best of the Best: Sneaking through a sound-sensitive room that kills anyone who makes a peep.

The Worst of the Worst: The overacting.

Calhooey Score: 6/10 - Above Average

Would I Recommend?

****

Oh, calm yourself, Leaven, it's not that bad...

If you like trapped-room horror films like Saw, I think Cube will be right up your alley. It's relatively short and doesn't try to be anything else other than what it is. Newer takes on this genre have since come out and may arguably be better looking, so I imagine Cube may eventually be lost to time. Despite that, I think Natali made some interesting moves in conceptualizing this and it presents an intriguing use of mathematics in horror. 

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• The claim that this movie has seven characters is a bit ridiculous considering Alderson bites the dust before the opening credits. I figured his character died well before the events of the film too since we never see his remains despite coming across the trap that killed him.
• Worth's explanation behind the Cube's creation is really vague. I'm not surprised that Quentin wasn't all that satisfied with it.
• I can totally understand why Quentin didn't trust Worth and was angry with Kazan when Kazan nearly got him killed in the sound-sensitive room. What I don't understand is how that translates to Quentin murdering Dr. Holloway and sexually assaulting Leaven.
• Seriously, I don't understand Dr. Holloway's death. If Quentin wanted her to die, why did he risk his life to try and save her right before he dropped her? It kind of cracks me up that he didn't really try to hide the fact that he killed her either.
• Apparently Worth's extensive pornography collection was not enough to convince him to actually try to leave the Cube.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*MoviePosterShop. (n.d.). Cube film image. Retrieved from: https://www.moviepostershop.com/cube-movie-poster-1997.

**Watkins, G. (2015, October 27). Prime numbers gif. Yahoo! Retrieved from: https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/remembering-the-claustrophic-terrors-of-1287325491724342.html.

***Watkins, G. (2015, October 27). Cube trap gif. Yahoo! Retrieved from: https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/remembering-the-claustrophic-terrors-of-1287325491724342.html.

****Love-peace-karma-police. (n.d.). Leaven wake up gif. Tumgir. Retrieved from: https://www.tumgir.com/tag/Cube%20movie.