Cube Zero

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Cube Zero
CUBEZEROPOSTER.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ernie Barbarash
Written byErnie Barbarash
Produced by
  • Suzanne Colvin Goulding
  • Jon Goulding
Starring
CinematographyFrançois Dagenais
Edited by
  • Mitchell Lackie
  • Mark Sanders
Music by Norman Orenstein
Distributed by Lions Gate Films
Release dates
  • 15 October 2004 (2004-10-15)(Screamfest)
  • 22 February 2005 (2005-02-22)(United States)
Running time
97 minutes [1]
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Cube Zero is a 2004 Canadian science fiction psychological horror film written and directed by Ernie Barbarash, in his directorial debut. It is the third installment in the Cube series and a prequel to the first film.

Contents

The first two films take place almost entirely within the Cube maze, and Cube Zero is set in both its interior and exterior. It reverts to the industrial-designed, colored rooms of the first Cube, but with a refreshed and redesigned set.

Plot

Ryjkin is a man trying to escape from the Cube. He is sprayed with a liquid that he fears is acid only to find it sweet tasting. He discovers to his horror it is a base that melts his body after a few minutes.

The rooms in the Cube are being monitored from a room by two technicians who are unaware of who their employers are. The pair play chess during work, whereupon Wynn demonstrates abilities which he uses to predict moves.

Wynn and Dodd are ordered to record the dream of a subject. Wynn sees Rains captured while walking in a forest with her daughter. Rains wakes up in the Cube and meets the other occupants. Haskell has the same tattoo on his forehead as the soldier who captured Rains. Haskell only knows his name and has no recollection of his life or how he got there. Everyone in the Cube faced a sentence and volunteered to partake in experiments instead. Rains' form is not found in her file. The captives venture through the Cube. Bartok and Meyerhold are all killed by traps.

A call from their superiors instructs Wynn and Dodd to perform a procedure for Owen who has reached one of the exits of the Cube. The procedure fails after Owen answers no to a question prompting Dodd to push a button which causes Owen to be incinerated. No one has ever answered positively. Wynn concludes that the Cube is inhumane and people are being placed in it against their will.

Dodd is joined in the room by his supervisor Jax and two of his analysts, who have learned of the incident. Jax has the occupants trapped in one room, then electrifies the walls to electrocute them. Dodd relents and sabotages the panels servicing the Cube. This shuts down every trap and initiates a mode, which gives the prisoners ten minutes to escape the Cube as its rooms return to their positions, before a procedure vaporizes everything inside. Jax discovers Dodd's betrayal and kills him, then he activates Haskell's agent through a chip implanted in him. Haskell becomes hostile towards his companions, who struggle to continue their escape and leave him behind. They reach an exit to find Haskell waiting for them. Wynn and Rains manage to jump into the exit right as the procedure starts.

Wynn and Rains swim through water and emerge in a lake. They run through a forest similar to the one seen in Rains's dream, while being chased by soldiers. Wynn is tranquilized and recaptured. He wakes up in a room, where Jax informs him that he has been sentenced for treason, and that he had agreed to become a subject, despite Wynn remembering neither the trial nor signing the consent. Wynn's brain is altered, and he dreams about Rains reuniting with her daughter and praising him as a superhero. Wynn is now handicapped and found by its captives. He mentions the color of the room and that he wants to go back to a room of a different color.

Cast

Release

The film premiered at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival on 15 October 2004. It was released on DVD in the United States on 22 February 2005. [2]

Reception

Reviews have been mostly positive, including positive notices from JoBlo.com, AMC's Movie Guide, DVD Talk, and Bloody Disgusting, [3] [4] [5] with Bloody Disgusting saying that "Cube Zero isn't the best of the series, but it comes close". [6]

Accolades

The film won the award for "Best Special Effects" at the 2004 Screamfest Horror Film Festival. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ "Cube Zero (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 1 February 2005. Retrieved 20 October 2019. The BBFC classification is for video, meaning it includes 4% PAL speed-up. The film's true runtime is 97:21.
  2. ↑ "Cube Zero (2004)". Moviefone.
  3. ↑ Cube Zero (2004) Archived 2019-05-31 at the Wayback Machine JoBlo.com
  4. ↑ Cube Zero - review [ permanent dead link ] AMC Movies
  5. ↑ Cube Zero DVD Talk
  6. ↑ Cube:Zero Bloody Disgusting
  7. ↑ "2004 Screamfest Awards". Screamfest. 15 November 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
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