''Cube Zero'' is a 2004 Canadian
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
psychological horror
Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequent ...
film written and directed by
Ernie Barbarash
Ernie Barbarash is a film director, screenwriter and producer, perhaps best known as co-producer of the films ''American Psycho 2'', ''Cube 2: Hypercube'', ''Prisoner of Love'', ''The First 9½ Weeks'' and ''The Cat's Meow''. Barbarash also wrote ...
. It is the third and final film in the
''Cube'' trilogy and a
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term " ...
to the first
''Cube'' film.
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. Upon entering a trapped room, he is sprayed with a mysterious liquid that he fears is acid only to find it sweet tasting, thinking it is flavored water, desperately drinking it to quench his thirst. However he discovers to his horror it is a potent molecular base that melts his entire body after a few minutes, killing him.
The rooms in the Cube are being monitored from a remote observation room by two technicians, Eric Wynn and Dodd, who are unaware of who their employers are. The pair regularly play
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
during work, whereupon Wynn demonstrates
mental calculator
Human calculator is a term to describe a person with a prodigious ability in some area of mental calculation (such as adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing large numbers).
The world's best mental calculators are invited every two yea ...
abilities which he uses to predict Dodd's moves.
Wynn and Dodd are ordered to record the dream of a subject, Cassandra Rains. In her dream, Wynn sees Rains captured while walking in a forest with her daughter. Rains wakes up in the Cube and meets the other occupants: Robert Haskell, Jellico, Meyerhold and Bartok. Haskell has the same tattoo on his forehead as the soldier who captured Rains. However, Haskell, like everyone else, only knows his own name and has no recollection of his former life or how he got there. According to what Wynn and Dodd know, everyone in the Cube faced a death sentence and volunteered to partake in psychological experiments instead. Rains's consent form, however, is not found in her file. The captives venture through the Cube, testing each room for traps by throwing a boot in first. Bartok, Jellico, and Meyerhold are all killed by various traps, leaving Rains and Haskell as the sole survivors.
A phone call from their superiors instructs Wynn and Dodd to perform an "exit procedure" for Owen, a former colleague of theirs and now a test subject, who has reached one of the exits of the Cube. The procedure fails after Owen answers no to a question - whether or not he believes in God - prompting Dodd to push a "no" button which causes Owen to be instantly incinerated. According to Dodd, no one has ever answered positively. Wynn concludes that the Cube is inhumane and people are being placed in it against their will, therefore decides to enter the Cube himself and rescue Rains: he enters an elevator that communicates with a Cube entrance and eventually joins Rains and Haskell.
Dodd is joined in the observation room by his supervisor Jax and two of his analysts, who have learned of the incident. Jax has the Cube occupants trapped in one room, then electrifies the walls to electrocute them. Dodd relents and secretly sabotages the control panels servicing the Cube. This shuts down every trap and initiates a "reset mode", which gives the prisoners ten minutes to escape the Cube as its rooms return to their initial positions, before a sterilization procedure vaporizes everything inside. Jax discovers Dodd's betrayal and kills him, then he activates Haskell's sleeper 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. In the ensuing struggle, Wynn and Rains manage to jump into the auxiliary exit right as the sterilization procedure starts, vaporizing Haskell.
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, allowing Rains to escape. He wakes up in a surgery room, where Jax informs him that he has been sentenced for high treason, and that many years earlier he had agreed to become a test subject, despite Wynn remembering neither the trial nor signing the consent. Wynn's brain is surgically altered, and he dreams about Rains reuniting with her daughter and praising him as a superhero. Wynn is now mentally disabled, put back in the Cube, and found by its new captives. He repeatedly mentions the color of the room and that he wants to go back to a different color, similar to Kazan in the first
''Cube'' film.
Cast
*
Zachary Bennett
Zachary Bennett is a Canadian actor and musician, who is known for playing Felix King in '' Road to Avonlea''. He also co-starred in the 2006 TV film ''Jekyll + Hyde'' and for voicing Coach Clydesdale on '' Corn & Peg''. He also currently voices ...
as Eric Wynn, a junior Cube technician. A
child prodigy
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
and a
genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...
, he is the newest recruit for the Cube.
* David Huband as Dodd, a senior Cube technician, who is at odds with Wynn for his constant questioning personality.
*
Stephanie Moore as Cassandra Rains, a political demonstrator trapped in the Cube.
*
Michael Riley
Michael Riley (born February 4, 1962) is a Canadian actor. From 1998 to 2000, he portrayed Brett Parker in ''Power Play''. He has acted in over 40 films and television series, including '' This Is Wonderland'', for which he received a Gemini Awa ...
as Jax, senior supervisor of the Cube, fitted with an artificial eye.
*
Martin Roach Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austral ...
as Robert P. Haskell, an ex Cube soldier trapped in the Cube.
* Mike "Nug" Nahrgang as Meyerhold, a man trapped in the Cube.
*
Terri Hawkes
Terri Hawkes (born ) is a Canadian actress and writer, known for playing Kelly Hennenlotter in the horror film, '' Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II'', Adrienne in ''Beverly Hills 90210'', Wendy Masters in ''General Hospital'', and for being the secon ...
as Jellico, a woman trapped in the Cube.
* Richard McMillan as Bartok, a man trapped in the Cube.
* Tony Munch as Owen, a senior cube technician placed in the Cube.
*
Jasmin Geljo
Jasmin Geljo (born September 18, 1959) is a Bosnian-Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Cube Zero'', as Ryjkin, and in the films ''Land of the Dead'', ''Assault on Precinct 13 (2005 film), Assault on Precinct 13'' and ''The Sentine ...
as Ryjkin, a man trapped in the Cube.
* Joshua Peace as Finn
*
Diego Klattenhoff
Diego Klattenhoff is a Canadian actor known for his portrayals of Mike Faber in the Showtime series ''Homeland'' and as FBI Special Agent Donald Ressler in ''The Blacklist''. He has also appeared as Derek in '' Whistler'', Ivan in ''Men in Tre ...
as Quigley
Release
The film premiered at the
Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a horror film festival founded by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in August 2001. It runs over ten days during the month of October and is hosted at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Los Angeles, Ca ...
on 15 October 2004. It was released on DVD in the United States on 22 February 2005.
Reception
Reviews have been mostly positive, including positive notices from
JoBlo.com
The JoBlo Movie Network includes a website, JoBlo.com, which focuses on news, film reviews, and movie trailers; and YouTube channels that focus on trailers, movie clips, celebrity interviews, original content, and as film distribution.
Early da ...
,
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
's Movie Guide,
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
, and
Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...
, with Bloody Disgusting saying that "''Cube Zero'' isn't the best of the series, but it comes close".
Accolades
The film won the award for "Best Special Effects" at the 2004
Screamfest Horror Film Festival
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a horror film festival founded by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in August 2001. It runs over ten days during the month of October and is hosted at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Los Angeles, Ca ...
.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Ernie Barbarash
2004 horror films
2004 films
2004 independent films
2000s psychological horror films
Canadian science fiction films
English-language Canadian films
2000s science fiction horror films
Cube (film series)
Films about mathematics
Films directed by Ernie Barbarash
2004 directorial debut films
2000s Canadian films
Canadian prequel films
2000s Japanese films