Cube

A film I saw many years ago that I wanted to revisit: CUBE. I think I was actually in my early teens when I saw this for the first time and I remember being strangely excited at the premise of the film. The story of the film is simple, very simple. A group of people wake up trapped inside of a giant cube filled with smaller cube rooms inside of it. They begin to find each other and have to find their ways from room to room without being killed by the many traps that guard each room. The overlaying question throughout the film is ‘why?’ Why have they been brought here?

Watch Trailer for CUBE Here

In my mind, this film is the originator of the torture/psychological genre that we all would come to know in the 2000s. SAW, HOSTEL, THIRT13N GHOSTS, and even RESIDENT EVIL stole some key scenes/ideas from this film (first kill – sliced scene). But of course this was released back in 1997, way ahead of the SAW series phenomena and all that jazz. It’s the classic mouse trapped in a maze trying to find the cheese motif. Although this maze is set with deadly traps throughout and there are many mice running around inside.

The character developments are extremely simple, but we become aware of the distinct personalities within the cube very quickly. There’s the standard scaredy cat woman, the intelligent old man, the cocky young guy, etc. We’ve seen them all before, and it just so happens that they are the representative whole found in this death maze.

The camera techniques and audio design add to the madness. We have very tight shots that continually reinforce the terror that our characters are feeling. The camera also floats back and forth during scenes where complete confusion and disorientation take over. The constant ambient noise and cube movements also propel the characters/audiences own uneasiness. Slowly we descend into madness together. “You’ve got to save yourselves from yourselves.”

After the first 20-minutes we all start to wonder where they could possibly takes this and keep us entertained for the next two acts. Then they introduce a new, interesting character. After that they begin to turn on each other, etc., and then the head games begin. They manage to keep the film moving along fairly well despite the obvious persistent plot movement. And the different color rooms keep the mood moving along as well. It’s used effectively to convey feeling/mood and dramatic progression. There are some decent special effects in this film: the man sliced into pieces, the acid sprayed face, the pike filled room - to name a few.

This film is more of a 90-minute headtrip than anything else. It’s an interesting premise that revolutionized a new generation of film genres for the decades to come; the cash cow SAW films that everyone will never become tired of. Because at the end of the day we like to test ourselves and scare ourselves, and how better than to watch strangers be tortured and tested on the silver screen? The film truly has some suspenseful moments that work brilliantly, and for that I have to commend them. They did a lot with a very limited premise and environment. They probably could have shot this with just two rooms (and probably did). However, we feel just as lost in this new world.

Rating: 8/10