Cube - 1997

The first thing that caught my attention when I started watching this movie was the beautifully detailed set. Also, the fact that the first gruesome death happens in the first five minutes of the movie. There is no soundtrack at the beginning of the film, just ambient sound which makes this death all the more gruesome because it is completely unexpected, there is no music to add to the buildup. There are just no tells as to what is going to happen. But, this is prevalent all the way through the movie. All I can tell you without spoiling it is that it is deliciously gruesome.

The plot is pretty simple and straightforward. Strangers wind up in a strange “cube” room. (Go fig right, with a name like “Cube” what else would they be?) Surrounded by frightening and unknown traps, they must try to figure out WHERE they are, WHY they are there, and HOW to get out. The nice thing about this movie is that there are no real tells as far as who is who or why they are there. They keep everyone, viewers included, in the dark until the right time. Adds a great level of tension and suspense to an already suspenseful film.

The complete lack of soundtrack through most of this movie makes this film even more eerie because all you have are the ambient sounds and no real clues as to when something is going to happen, which makes the jump scares more effective.

The players in this “game” or what have you, all have very distinct personalities. As the film goes along you get to see the cracks in each person’s established facade. This movie is a really good study of stress and human nature. Part of that stress, aside from being in a series of rooms that they have no idea how they got there or the traps. The traps in this film are ingenious, frightening, and unpredictable. As you watch them go from room to room, you find yourself nervous as to what is going to happen next. There is almost a nauseating tension as you watch them open each hatch and fear for what they are going to find in the next room. Characters that you might have liked or respected, may change as the film progresses and other characters might surprise you.

A very interesting fact is that this film was shot in a single 14’x14’ cube “cell”, to give the appearance of many different, unending cells, they just cycled through different background colors. The majority of this film was done with a handheld camera, which in 1997, was not quite mainstream yet. There is an interesting tidbit about the names of the characters and what they represent. See if you can figure it out. Feel free to drop your theories in the comments section, or if you are worried about spoiling it for someone else, drop me an email or message on Facebook. Be more than happy to share that interesting tidbit.

I would love to go into more detail about the story, but the way it is written and acted, anything else than what I have said would be a spoiler. So instead, let’s talk about the cast. This film has a really small cast, which I am finding that I personally enjoy small cast films more than a large cluster of people running around like idiots. Our first cast member is Leaven, played by the beautiful Nicole De Boer. Nicole was already an established actress before this film, having roles in several TV series and a few films. Her girl next door looks, and soft-spoken voice really makes her stand out as just your average girl who ends up in a cube-like hell. After her turn in this film, she went on to have roles in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” as Ezri Dax, (1998-1999) as well as the lead actress in the television adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Dead Zone” (2002-2007) with 80’s super cutie Anthony Michael Hall. Most recently you can see her in the supernatural, mystery series Haven. I really enjoyed her in Cube. Her reactions were on par with what was going on around her and not so over the top to take away from the film. As well as she has a brain and is not just a shrill, screeching harpy that needs rescuing, she is strong and is right there with everyone else looking for answers.

Next, we have Alderson, played by Julian Richings. Julian is actually quite familiar to most horror movie fans though most don’t realize it. He was the creepy janitor in the 1998 college creep out hit “Urban Legend”. He also played the frightening, giggling, inbred cannibal Three Fingers in the “Wrong Turn” franchise. He also has had a role in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s “Kingdom Hospital” (2004) as Otto. Most recently Julian can be seen as Benjamin in the hit sci-fi series “Orphan Black”. As well as he is very recognizable to any fans of a super popular little TV series about two brothers who hunt demons. That’s right, Julian plays Death in the hit series “Supernatural” (Though any fans of the series, actually didn’t need me to tell them that.) Sadly, I feel that Julian does not get the recognition that he deserves for the sheer range of characters that he can play. Alderson is pretty quiet and non-verbal for his role in this film. I always look forward to seeing whatever project he is involved in.

Our last cast member is another “Wrong Turn” alumni and an actor with a long and fantastic career. That would be Rennes, played by Wayne Robson, who was also the head of the cannibal, inbred family in the “Wrong Turn” series of films. Not only is Wayne recognizable to fans of horror movies but he has lent his voice to numerous animated films such as “Rescuers Down Under” (Frank the lizard), Babar, The Adventures of Tintin (Prof. Calculus). Sadly Wayne passed away in 2011 and the last film that you can see him in is the 2011 “Servitude”. Rennes is the elder of the group and a bit of a grouch. Though I could not imagine why.

This film CAN be slow at times when they are talking and figuring things out. But, the kills and twists and turns are pretty random so it keeps you on your toes. As you puzzle your way through this with them, it is easy to start trying to guess who or what did this to them and you can almost find yourself pulled into their madness as their situation and environment start to wear on them.

This isn’t all that scary in the sense that you need to watch it during the day with all the lights on. It is more of a film that wears on your nerves and keeps you guessing. It is a great movie to toss into your movie marathon list to change things up a bit. Or just for something that doesn’t really have a “bad guy” and instead shows us the bad guy inside that people fight to keep in a cage so no one sees it.