Cube Zero (2004) (V)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Ernie Barbarash

Writer (WGA):

Ernie Barbarash (written by)

Release Date:

16 December 2004 (Thailand)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror | Drama | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

Isolation - Panic - Terror

Plot:

A young man whose job is to watch over the Cube endeavours to rescue an innocent woman trapped in one of its rooms. |

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | Room | Key | Spit In The Face | Flashback

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Zachary Bennett	...	Eric Wynn
David Huband	...	Dodd
Stephanie Moore	...	Cassandra Rains
Martin Roach	...	Robert P. Haskell
Terri Hawkes	...	Jellico
Richard McMillan	...	Bartok
Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang	...	Meyerhold (as Mike Nahrgang)
Tony Munch	...	Owen
Michael Riley	...	Jax
Joshua Peace	...	Finn (as Josh Peace)
Diego Klattenhoff	...	Quigley
Alexia Filippeos	...	Anna
Jasmin Geljo	...	Ryjkin
Fernando Cursione	...	Doctor
Araxi Arslanian	...	Female Doctor

Also Known As:

Cube Ø (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore and some language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (cut) | Norway:18 | Japan:PG-12 | South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Germany:18 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Mad Circus Films

Trivia:

In the monitor room at the beginning of the movie, there is a blurred shot of a controller for an Atari 2600 as the CD of Ryjkin's demise is being collected.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Rains pushes Wynn into one of the walls inside the cube, it wobbles.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ryjkin: I hate this place.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Re-Entering the Nightmare (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Message From Buddha

Much, much better than I expected! (10/10)

Summary: Cube Zero is all about going back to basics. Gore is back together with much darker atmosphere and (at least apparently) gone is all ambiguous silliness about alternative universes from Cube 2. (I did appreciate the idea but did someone really think it worked?)

Someone complained that this does nothing but recycle ideas of Cube 1 & 2. This couldn't be further from truth: I think the movie goes into a very interesting direction. The fact that the beginning is identical to Cube 1 is just a homage: I guess it tries to say that you should forget about Cube 2 at this point -- this is no PG ride. It "ignores" Cube 2 completely ("why" should be obvious after seeing the ending) and goes back to what worked in the original.

It would've been easy for this movie to be a complete disaster. The trailer certainly did not look as good as the movie ended up being. Sure, some performances aren't that great (but then again, look at Cube 1!) and some cgi seems to be recycled from Cube 1 (but then again, look at the budget!).

However, I think "Cube Zero" expands the "Cubeverse" in an interesting way and still keeps a lot of mysteries. ("Who *are* these people?") The ending itself is so great that if you liked Cube 1 at all, you should watch this movie.

Cube 2 certainly didn't give the viewer anything new except a silly ending that could mean anything. This one, on the other hand, is consistent with the premise of Cube 1 and just lays out some new rules.

A great ride with a very nice payoff! [10/10]