CUBE (1997)
a review by Evan Landon
I think anyone that is even slightly familiar with the current movie landscape can agree that horror movies have been on the upstroke recently, especially in this past year. In fact, we are seeing horror movies winning academy awards that are not shoehorned into the special effects category, just to get that ever-elusive nod from the academy. What a time to be alive!
One movie that I never miss a chance to enjoy, whenever it comes on, is writer/director Vincenzo Natali's feature length breakthrough, 1997's Cube. Believe it or not, Natali got his start as a storyboard artist for some of my favorite television cartoons as a kid, such as Beetlejuice, Tales From The Crypt Keeper, and Eek! The Cat.
I can literally imagine a man noteworthy for storyboarding making a series of pictures so cohesive that the viewer has no choice but to be involved. The pictures, frame-by-frame, coalesce better than any background could even own, yet it does. The dying art of the scenery leads every character into multiple mistakes that make the rules of the script very, very real.
In Cube, a group of individuals, who have nothing at all in common with each other (besides being in a fucking cube) awaken in a mysterious Cube-esque structure. Thus, the nomenclature: CUBE.
The are a total of seven characters that are introduced in the first 15 minutes. Yes, only seven. The first one dies within the first 5 minutes (just to let you know what kind of movie you are fucking watching), so no use in getting to know him. Your new 6 characters are:
QUENTIN: a cop with a family whose only remorse is that he cannot provide for his daughters while he is imprisoned in the CUBE.
RENNES: a French escape artist who has escaped from seven maximum security prisons, who could care less if the others follow.
HOLLOWAY: a conspiracy theorist and free clinic doctor who, when asked what she remembers before she got there, yells “Pierogies!”
WORTH: a mysterious man who may know more than he is letting on, saying “No one is in charge. There is no master plan. Big Brother is not watching you. Someone got voted out, or this is an accident.”
LEAVEN: a young high school student, who has a hidden talent that no one is aware of at first, but once figured out, she becomes the guide through this immensely confusing maze.
KAZAN: an autistic savant that our most of established characters meet that could be the key to all of their salvation.
Upon this, each character is tested and alignments shift over the course of the film, as their backgrounds and intentions become clearer. The characters themselves draw it's audience into the very surroundings that continue to confuse and program terror into both viewer and it's characters, making the setting a character in itself. Can a group of total strangers in a diabolical series of cells work together to escape a maze of deathly traps, or will they begin to blame each other as their minds and bodies begin to dissolve under the stress?
I think, deep down, Cube is a story of self-reflection and audience. I mean, why tell the story of a bunch of people you could not care about? You know nothing about about any of these characters, yet the story dictates that anything that the characters come across is already an obstacle. Why? I don't know, maybe it's when well-known character actor, Julian Richings, getting sliced into a million pieces in the first 3 minutes.
I would be remiss if I did not offer the token of “nature vs. nurture” as a common vice between the arguments of these title characters. The subtleties of the Kafka-esque, prison-like environment also points to another layer of underlying philosophies that are more than abundant in this indie, sci-fi horror classic.
There is one glaring issue that happens in the second act where whats her name is able to keep main man from punching homeboy's lights out, so I don't think I will overlook that. Beyond that, this movie is substantially perfect.
Oh. There is a sequel, a prequel, and a Japanese remake too with a sick soundtrack. I'll get to all of those soon enough, but none compare to the original Cube.
4.5 Out Of 5