Cube Zero

Plot synopsis:
The film starts with a man, Ryjkin, trying to escape from the Cube. He enters a room and is sprayed with liquid that he thinks is only water. However, when he rubs the back of his hand due to itchiness, his flesh liquifies and falls off. This soon happens all over his body, as he then melts on the floor and dies as a result.
A man named Eric is watching a video feed of this in an observation room with a co-worker named Dodd. Afterwards, Eric is shown to be sketching a portrait of Dodd in the form of a superhero called Chessman, while playing chess with him at the same time. Dodd has the chess board in front of him, but Eric is at another table, simply drawing and naming his moves. Eric seems to be vastly intelligent, calculating all of Dodd's moves. After Eric wins, he asks Dodd questions about their missing colleagues. Dodd tells him not to ask too many questions or get involved with the occupants of the Cube because it wouldn't make "those upstairs" happy.
Both Eric and Dodd get an order from "upstairs" that asks them to record the dream of a subject, Cassandra Rains. In her dream, Eric sees that she was captured while walking in a pleasant forest with her daughter named Anna. After waking, Cassandra meets the other occupants of the Cube. One of the men, Robert Haskell, has a tattoo on his forehead like the soldier who captured Cassandra. However, Haskell, like everyone else, has no recollection of his former life or how he got there - he only knows his name. According to what Eric and Dodd know, everyone in the Cube faced a death sentence and was presented with a choice: Go into the Cube with their memory completely erased, or take the death sentence. For this process, a unique consent form must be signed for someone to be placed in the Cube. Eric discovers that there is no consent form in Cassandra's file and argues with Dodd that they should inform the people "upstairs" about this. Meanwhile, Eric and Dodd get "lunch", in the form of a flavored pill, from "upstairs" via the elevator.
Just when Eric is about to make a call to the superiors, the phone rings. They are instructed to perform the "exit procedure" for a subject who has reached one of the exits of the Cube; one of their former colleagues, Owen. During the exit procedure, Owen is asked if he remembers his name, which he answers correctly. Owen is then asked if he believes in God, to which he says no, which prompts Eric to press the "no" button, which immediately incinerates Owen. Eric argues with Dodd over the fate of Owen, on which he says that he said "no", and that no one said yes. Eric realizes that the Cube is inhumane and that those "upstairs" are planning to place people in the Cube randomly without consent. He decides to enter the Cube to help Cassandra escape it. He distracts Dodd and enters the elevator, which contain only three buttons: "UP", to the "upstairs" room; "MIDDLE", pointing to their office; and "DOWN", to one of the entrances into the Cube, which he selects.
Jax, one of the Cube's supervisors who monitors the employees, and two of his analysts arrive from "upstairs" to stop Eric from helping Cassandra, but despite their efforts to stop them, Eric and Cassandra make it to the exit room with the help of Dodd, who sabotages the control panels servicing the Cube. He then swallows the main power coupler for the cameras inside the Cube in an act of defiance. Jax paralyzes him and guts him open alive, retrieving the coupler. The sabotage incapacitates the Cube, causing every trap to shut down like Eric planned. He informs Cassandra that they only have 10 minutes to escape before the Cube enters "Reset Mode," which sterilizes the rooms by vaporizing everything inside.
Once Eric and Cassandra reach an "exit room," Haskell catches them. They escape using a secret auxiliary exit just as the Cube enters "Reset Mode," which vaporizes Haskell. They escape into a lake and end up in a forest; however, soldiers searching for them have already arrived. Cassandra manages to escape, but Eric is shot by a dart and passes out.
Eric wakes up in a surgery room and confronts Jax, who reveals that Cassandra may have gotten away. He claims that Eric has been found guilty of "high treason" and "sabotage" against "country and some mystical God", and also tells him that "your sentence has been extended for two more lifetimes". Jax claims Eric has already been convicted in a trial and shows him his consent form, saying he agreed to become a test subject many years ago but does not remember. Against his will, his brain is surgically altered, as Eric dreams about Cassandra reuniting with her daughter and praising Eric as a superhero. Eric is then lobotomized and put back in the Cube. After his brain was altered, Eric is left mentally handicapped. He repeatedly mentions the color of the room and has a repetitive twitch in his right hand. He is found by new captives of the Cube who wonder how he could have possibly survived, mirroring Kazan's initial appearance in the first film, hinting that he and Kazan may have been given the same condition, or even be the same person.

Tags: psychedelic, alternate reality, psychological, violence, flashback

Review:
Following the release of Cube 2: Hypercube (2003), and playing off the alleged success of the original Cube (1998), Director Ernie Barbarash takes the liberty of bringing us the third installment in the trilogy, the prequel Cube Zero.Deep in the bowels of a giant and faceless institution, time and place unknown, two low-ranking operators, Wynn (Zachary Bennett) and Dodd (David Huband) sit and observe on monitors the behavior of people that have been placed in a giant network of cubic chambers, some of which are rigged with death traps.
Suddenly it's realized that perhaps their "jobs" are not what they seem, and that they may be part of something deeply sick and twisted...For people that have seen and enjoyed the original Cube, this prequel will probably not be to your liking.
The problem with Cube Zero is that it destroys some of the mystique of the original, attempting to answer questions with more questions but only really resulting in making a mess of what never needed fixing.What this new film has to offer, which is questions about the psychological nature of authoritarianism and the banality of evil, certainly are good questions to be raised, but probably should have been done so on their own merits, rather than as a continuation of a film that had no such aspirations.Having said this, the other traits of the film, such as acting and direction and writing, are not awful.
Which I am personally quite surprised at as me and my boyfriend found this film to be the best of the Cube series.I got the Cube box set for Christmas and I always look forward to watching a good movie.
I had already seen Cube 1, so not much shocked me...bearing in mind, the first time I watched it, I was fairly disturbed...putting myself in their position...waking up in a huge cube not knowing how you got there.Then there was Cube 2, not much happened in this film...I didn't like the fact there weren't any traps as good as the first film.Then there is Cube Zero...a film that can get very confusing in places, but pieces itself together gradually, and actually explains WHY these people are in the cube, how they got there, and what happens when/if they get out.
In Cube Zero, there are 2 guys hired to watch over the people in the Cube...they have files on what looks like everyone who has ever been in the Cube...you ask yourself "why would anyone want to watch over a bunch of people dieing in a cube?"...well you find that out also.I personally think that the makers of the 'SAW' series got some of their ideas from the Cube series.
Most likely it was triggered by a camera picking up a human form in the middle of the room.After being disappointed by the follow through of part 1 and 2, I looked forward to a prequel finally making some sense of all this, and being a enjoyable film.
Owen reaching the exit room reminds me a lot of the ending of Cube 1, I suppose that was the point.Exit Procedure is very Nazism isn't it.Anyways, I noticed later on they weren't even waiting for the boot to hit the floor before entering a new room, that didn't make a whole lot of sense, although the sound vibration death was quite cool.Pretty nice ending, the way Wynn becomes Kazan-ized.
And it stands perfectly well, on its own, without a stupid sequel like "Cube Zero." This third (!) film in the Cube series is part retread (most of the booby traps are sadly recycled), part aberration.
("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.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs Another group of individuals awake to find themselves trapped within the confinement of the now legendary Cube,with only their wits and their speed to save them.In this instalment,we also learn more about the people behind the Cube and the sinister true reason for it's existence...As I watched Cube:Zero stretch out before me,I couldn't help but feel I was watching yet another example of a great original film,a far-fetched but undeniably inventive and thoroughly engaging science-fiction caper,being milked for all it's worth with tacky video sequels.For any gore-hounds out there,there's some impressive grisly dismemberment scenes to behold and the original angle remains as clever as ever,but it's no cleverer than it was before.The film is just that:a desperate and sad extension of it's original self.It's never made clear what the Zero in the title means,but zero is a name for cannabis,and that's sort of what it feels the screen-writers had been puffing too much of when they penned another entry into the Cube franchise.With some naff new central characters introduced (typical and dourly indicative of this kind of video sludge!) and a slumberous pace,one can only hope that this marks the final part of the now depressingly wearisome Cube franchise.**.
Those familiar with the two previous Cube films pretty much know what they can expect: a small group of people trapped inside a bunch of booby trapped rooms, paranoia, bad acting...
Sure, there's sort of an explanation in there, but it feels pretty lame compared to what was suggested in the first film.Cube Zero looks rather cheap (as did its predecessors), and the fact that it shows more than just a couple of empty rooms only emphasizes this feeling.
They have brought back the traps from Cube 1, though, (by that I mean that they're almost the same ones, which is a bit of a shame).I know that many people kind of appreciate this film and its ties with the first one, but I just feel that it's a completely unnecessary contribution to a franchise that wasn't that great to begin with.
I'm a fan of b-movies, and this one might have been good had they not attached the name "Cube" to it, because as is, the director and plot of the original were better, and this movie just about ruined my taste for the entire series.
i just finished watching it and taught it was great to have a perspective from observers outside of the Cube for once .i read some other user comment one especially saying the cube as not been ameliorated uplifted .well how could it be more advanced when the movie happens before the original cube.i also liked the fact that in this one you get the general idea on how and why people end up in the cube.Good death traps all around as usual ,groovy atmosphere a good film well done with a bunch of unknown actors that play there roles in a credible manner considering the type of film this is.i enjoy the less mainstream thriller horror pictures lately always more original than all those block busters remake from the good 70's movies which needed none of that remake bull@#@$ all together it was very entertaining i give it a 7.5 out of 10.
Series note: Although Cube Zero is a prequel to a film series, this is a rare case where I'd recommend that you watch the series in the release order.
Start with Cube (1997), then Cube 2: Hypercube (2002), then finally this film.A number of people find themselves trapped in a bizarre world consisting of cubic rooms with no windows and only a hatch-like portal in each of the four walls, the ceiling and the floor.
And if you do not give away enough, you're stuck with basically repeating material from the other films.In Cube 2: Hypercube, the way Barbarash and his fellow writers and director solved this problem was by placing the story an arbitrary length of time in the future--enough of a span that a second cube had been built with much-advanced technology, with a more complex, sci-fi oriented theoretical physics/mathematics basis.
Members of the cast also had insightful things to say about the film's subtexts, with Richard McMillan pointing out that the cube material is like a "big mirror reflecting the characters' inner-selves or souls".However you interpret the film, it's worth watching.
Well I thought wrong."Cube Zero" starts well enough by introducing us with the two characters in charge of watching and maintaining the never-ending maze of traps that plagues the people in the Cube.
The entire interaction is painful to watch as is everything else following it.Again failing to impress on anything but weak characters, dialog and acting "Cube Zero" is a waste of time for those searching for a good horror movie..
It's got everything--an imaginative plot, suspense, great acting (Nicole DeBoer being the only exception), superb music, well-developed characters, and a thought-provoking ending that doesn't give us any explanation for WHY the cube exists.
The rest of the principal cast members weren't so good.Like the previous two films, Cube: Zero also showcases lots of visual and make-up effects.
That said i have enjoyed them.They have an interesting concept,plenty of gory deaths,and like the series or not you cant help wanting to know more about the workings of the cubes..."who built them?","why were they built?",and "how do they choose the people who go inside them?", are probably most viewers main questions,and like any decent films of this genre,"they do not tell you" lol...Or do they?
In cube zero one of those questions at least is partially answered,but not having headed this under spoiler alert heading i wont say which :PThe fact that they keep the viewer guessing the answers to those questions is a credit to the makers and although i would hope when they get fed up of making them that all will be revealed,i have a sneaking suspicion that they wont ever tell us,as to do so will stop 90% of the audience from bothering to watch future episodes in the saga and i am sure they realize by now that its a small gold mine keeping the series of cube films alive and kicking.To summarize,Cube Zero is no better or worse than its predecessors,and if enjoyed previous cube films like i did then this will not disappoint as it has all the things you enjoyed from previous films with the added advantage of seeing a little of the goings on from the other side's perspective :).
It wants you to ignore Cube 2 and shows you what made the original worked; suspense, good characters, well done effects and awesome gore.
It wouldn't be effective to simply repeat the events of the first movie, so these are dealt with fairly quickly.It was interesting to go outside the cube, and the director got it just right by concentrating on some of the lowest employees, who themselves seem trapped in a box with no way out.
Then this movie, Cube Zero came along, which is a sequel/prequel, and they made the right decision to get outside the Cube a little bit and look at the people running it a little, but overall the movie is EVEN WORSE than Cube 2 and I don't say that lightly because Cube 2 was garbage.There are a couple good lead actors in this but they have nothing to work with.
This third chapter in the series gives us a new twist: we get to see how the cube works from the outside via two workers who must monitor the progress of the people trapped inside.I've always enjoyed the Cube movies, they are smart and enigmatic.
Some of the characters are still fairly shallow, especially the people inside the cube, but otherwise the writing is inventive and a lot less cheesy than in the other two films.The acting is also quite good.
I went in to this movie with extremely low expectations,after seeing what a failure "Cube 2" was.Frankly,I thought "Cube Zero" was going to be even worse.One of the main reasons the first movie was so good,was the fact,that everything was shrouded in mystery.I knew,that "Cube Zero" was going to try to demystify the original and botch up the series even more.To my surprise-it didn't.The explanation they give us actually seems legit and they carefully leave some things still unknown.That part of the movie was,in my opinion,done flawlessly.The acting was OK for the most part.The gore effects weren't that good and in my opinion,they were unnecessary,but this isn't a really big problem.There are two things that really handicap the film.1.The group of cube guinea pigs.Most of the segments involving our new group are very,very similar to the first movie and it really breaks the overall flow.Plus you wouldn't care about those characters-THEY ARE FLAT.I think the scenes involving them could have been shortened.2.Jax.I hate this character.I really do.This guy is the most stereotypical Bond villain you can think off.I never,ever expected to see such a character in a movie like this.He seems so out of place.What were they thinking?Although it has some flaws,"Cube Zero" is a good movie and it manages to redeem the mistakes of "Cube 2:Hypercube"..
Now, the "unknown" is answered (somewhat) and it doesn't quite paint the picture that was created in my mind.I don't want to sound like I am crashing this film into the ground, far from it, but there were several moments while I was watching this movie that I thought to myself, "well, that kinda works for me" as if I was agreeing with the images that the director chose to use.
to this actor and wishing him more powerful and true characters in his professional career!(Here should come a plenty of applause)My best regards to Mr. Riley, to all people here around and to the talented creators of Cube Zero.P.S. Yes - there is some blood in the film, but it doesn't stick into Your Eyes and into Your Mind, while Cube and it's interaction with it's pray - is the Core Idea and Cornerstone of the movie.Oleg Born in Russia Presently work in Greece.
Honestly, the first Cube film did about everything a film can do with people trapped inside a giant box (Hypercube proved this), and I think Cube Zero has gone about as far explaining the Cube as any film should (if there's a sequel, my money's on that film proving my point here).While on the subject of sequels - can we please give one horror franchise the dignity of ending on a positive note and let it be known as a concise, yet effective, series?
But the most surprising thing about Cube Zero is how effective it is, particularly when compared to its predecessor; writer/director Ernie Barbarash employs many of the same elements that made the original so enjoyable (ie incredibly brutal deaths), while also peppering the story with some new elements (the one thing Barbarash doesn't have on his side is freshness, as there's already been one direct-to-video sequel in this franchise).Instead of focusing entirely on a group of characters stuck inside the cube, Barbarash throws in a subplot involving two low-level employees who are responsible for keeping an eye on the cube's victims.
But, like Natali's original (which is, admittedly, superior), there's more to the film than just blood and gore; it's the escape efforts of these disparate survivors that proves to be the most intriguing aspect of the story.The performances are surprisingly strong, with Stephanie Moore and Zachary Bennett the obvious standouts (the latter is particularly effective as an employee of the cube who makes the mistake of questioning its very existence).
"Cube Zero" is a pretty interesting but overall boring film.**SPOILERS**Single woman Cassandra Rains, (Stephanie Moore) wakes up in a large structure with a group of people, Haskell, (Martin Roach) Bartok, (Richard McMillan) Meyerhold, (Mike Nahrgang) and Jellico, (Terri Hawkes) and finds that the entire complex is made up of a series of trapped rooms.
As far as films go, it was quite good, but suffered from the hypothetical design of the new cube, and trying to explain how it all existed.Now comes Cube Zero, a prequel to the series.
When they watch a new group of people in the Cube, loyalties start to fray, and questions arise, which leads one to attempt to rescue the people inside.Like Hypercube, this film attempts to explain some of the mystery of the existence of the Cube (which here is in a primitive form).
So, after getting the chance to watch it on the internet (Because of the rating it received, I couldn't buy it,) and I have to say, it was actually a nice prequel to Cube, apart from the less than two hour time run and some of the traps involved.The premise of Cube Zero sounds very similar to the first Saw movie and all of it's sequels.
In order to get a clear understanding of Cube Zero, I recommend looking up and/or watching the first movie, like I did when I first heard of the series, back in early 2012.
While it seems to be intended as a prequel, it's more like a the ending to a mystery that will make you feel as if you've read the ending of a book first if you watch this before the other 2.Note in looking over the reviews of this, it is ironic how people have their own cubes they operate within and want this film to operate within them.
With this third film in the "Cube" series it is really starting to feel like that.
Bad movie and awful acting from fat Meyerhold and ONe Eye Jax. I think the fat guy as Meryerhold was the worst actor in the cube films.
The acting is fine & Riley as the bad guy is fun although Moore got on my nerves.I really liked Cube Zero, I didn't think I would as I also thought the original was a brilliant film & I couldn't see this being anywhere near as good but it was.