1997 / Vincenzo Natali / Pluto / R
Plot
Six individuals find themselves abducted and placed into a room with a hatch on each wall. Opening a hatch reveals an identical room, but it may be boobytrapped. The group works together using limited tools, and their mathematical skills to traverse the cube in hopes of finding a way out. Personalities clash, and theories are disproven. The group struggles to keep their composure as hunger, thirst and madness set in.
Creators
After writing the script for Cube Vincenzo Natali directed a short film called Elevated which informed him of the techniques and overall atmosphere he intended for for the feature length film. Elevated plays with the same claustrophobia, character relationships, and vague exposition as Cube does. The single room set of the cube was designed to change color in order to differentiate the rooms, and the sounds of the cube "shifting" is in fact the train that passed near their shoot. Being a Canadian film, most of the actors are unknown to me.
Jake's Take
Cube is a simple yet impactful film for the era in cinema in which it is from. In the late 90s the slasher genre was being mocked and mimicked, hence the release of Scream in 96. Cube shares a lot of its aesthetic with Saw, but that didn't release till 06. The torture porn era hadn't yet kicked off, and yet here's Cube predating so many of the films that further pushed the envelope into the late 2000's. The acting isn't spectacular, but apparently a lot of the cast were friends with the director and had agreed to be a part of the project due to how much the film meant to him. After all, this film didn't have a very large budget. The best horror films don't.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the first installment of the Cube franchise. The clinical approach to the story telling, and the way that this film is edited will keep viewers on the edge of their seats. I hadn't been very excited to watch this film, but I had heard so many great things, and guess what? Those great things are true! I can't say for certain that I want to give my time to the rest of this franchise, I do have some standards, but there's only two other films and now the 2021 Japanese remake. I'm just trying to say that you should keep your eyes peeled. I may let my curiosity get the best of me.
Life or death situation and it all comes down to your mathematical prowess. How screwed are you?
PEMDAS, bitch.
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