Cube Zero
Theatrical release poster
Directed byErnie Barbarash
Written byErnie Barbarash
Produced by
  • Suzanne Colvin Goulding
  • Jon Goulding
Starring
CinematographyFrançois Dagenais
Edited by
  • Mitchell Lackie
  • Mark Sanders
Music byNorman Orenstein
Distributed byLions 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
LanguagesEnglish
French

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.

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 during work, whereupon Wynn demonstrates mental calculator 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 handicapped, 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 room of a different color, similar to Kazan in the first Cube film.

Cast

  • Zachary Bennett as Eric Wynn, a junior Cube technician. A child prodigy and a genius, 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 as Jax, senior supervisor of the Cube, fitted with an artificial eye.
  • Martin Roach 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 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 as Ryjkin, a man trapped in the Cube.
  • Joshua Peace as Finn
  • Diego Klattenhoff as Quigley

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]

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 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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