Good horror doesn't need a big budget

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2019)

From what I can tell of the other online reviews for 'Cube,' it's one of those films that you'll either love or hate. Personally, I absolutely loved it from the first time I saw it and have subsequently seen it many times since. I guess I can understand people not really getting behind it. It's hardly a rollercoaster or a thrill ride with hordes of brilliantly computer-generated monsters ripping people apart. Although it is pretty horrific - you just have to think it through.
Six strangers wake up inside, what is technically, one giant Rubik's Cube. However, this one doesn't just take half your life getting one piece of blue square out of an entire side of red - this one has lethal traps inside which can do anything from melt your face, to completely dicing you all together. How did they get there? They don't know. All they know is that there's no food or water on hand, therefore they better figure out how to get out of there before they starve to death (and so rob the traps of the honour of killing them).
And that's about it. It's a simple (and highly condensed/claustrophobic) little tale with no real major set-pieces (the cube is technically the same one room, endlessly repeated - only in different colours), no recognisable stars, few special effects and - possibly most importantly - few (if any!) answers to the questions raised.
Like I say, I personally love it. I find it as tense now as I did when I first watched it (even though I know what happens to everyone!). Yes, I know the lack of 'star-power' does actually mean that some of the actors deliver their lines a bit poorly, but I forgive it on account of the fact that it clearly doesn't have that much of a budget and yet it still was able to pull together something that is truly memorable.
If you want something big budget and exciting, this is definitely not for you. However, if you're looking for something small, tense, creepy and downright scary if you think about putting yourself in any of the protagonists' situation and work out how you might survive in such a foreign situation, then definitely give this one a go. It's not a 'cult classic' for nothing.