Cube Zero
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| Cube Zero | |
 Movie poster |
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| Directed by | Ernie Barbarash |
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| Produced by | Ronald Kinnoch |
| Written by | Ernie Barbarash |
| Starring | Zachary Bennett Stephanie Moore Michael Riley Martin Roach |
| Music by | Norman Orenstein |
| Cinematography | François Dagenais |
| Editing by | Mitch Lackie Mark Sanders |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment |
| Release date(s) |  October 15, 2004 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country |  Canada |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | CAD$1,200,000 (estimated) |
| Preceded by | Cube 2: Hypercube |
Cube Zero is a 2004 Canadian horror film, directed by Ernie Barbarash. It is the third of the Cube films, and its plot builds on the previous two in the sense that it is primarily about people who are trapped within a maze of cube-shaped rooms, with some of the rooms containing deadly traps. Whereas the first two movies take place almost entirely within the maze, Cube Zero takes place within and outside the maze, making significant use of outdoor scenes.
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[edit] Plot summary
Unlike the other movies in the trilogy, Cube and Hypercube, the story of Cube Zero is observed from both the perspectives of those trapped in the Cube and the people monitoring them. It is revealed that the company behind the Cube, Izon, uses subjects who have supposedly volunteered for the project. The Cube itself is a giant structure consisting of many rooms which are smaller cubes. It is 26 rooms wide, high, and deep. Some of the rooms have various traps, including sharp wires, flames, blades, and chemicals. The characters test each room for traps with a classic method known as "booting," which involves throwing a boot into a trapped room in an attempt to activate any traps.
The film focuses on a Cube technician, Eric Wynn, and Cassandra Rains, a woman placed in the Cube. The film starts with a man, Ryjkin, trying to escape from the Cube. He is sprayed with liquid in one of the cubes, but he believes it is only water. However, when he rubs the back of his palm he realizes that his body is disintegrating. Presumably, the liquid contains flesh-eating bacteria or acid and he melts into a bloody mess. Wynn is watching this in an observation room with his co-worker Dodd. Afterwards, we see Wynn simultaneously sketching a portrait of Dodd (in the form of a superhero called Chessman), conversing, and playing chess in his mind with Dodd, who has a chess board in front of him. After Eric wins, he asks Dodd questions about their missing colleagues, but Dodd suggests him not to ask too many questions or get involved with the occupants of the Cube.
They get an order from "upstairs", which asks them to record the dream of a subject, Cassandra Rains. In her dream, Wynn sees that she was captured, while walking in a pleasant forest with her daughter Anna. After waking, Rains meets the other occupants of the Cube. One of the males has a tattoo on his forehead like the soldier that captured her. However, the soldier, like everyone else, has no recollection of his former life. According to what Wynn knows, everyone in the cube was facing a death sentence and were presented a choice: go in the Cube with their memory wiped or be put to death. Only if a person signs the consent form, he or she will then be placed in the cube. Wynn finds out that Rains has no consent form and argues with Dodd that they should inform the people "upstairs."
Just when he 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 the exit of the Cube and is facing his final challenge. They see that it is one of their former colleagues, Owen. During the exit procedure, Owen is asked if he believes in God; when he answers no, he is immediately incinerated. Wynn argues with Dodd over the fate of Owen. He realizes the Cube is inhumane and decides to enter the cube to help Rains escape. Jax, one of the Cube's supervisors, and two of his analysts come to stop Wynn from helping Rains. Despite their efforts to stop them, Wynn and Rains make it to the exit room with the help of Dodd, who sabotages the connection to the control panels servicing the cube. Dodd is subsequently killed when Jax catches him red handed. The sabotage causes the cube to go into "reset mode," which vaporizes any living body inside the Cube after a limited period of time.
Once Wynn reaches an "exit room," they escape using a secret auxiliary exit. However, soldiers searching for them have already arrived. Rains manages to escape, but Wynn is shot by a dart and passes out. Wynn wakes up in a surgery room and confronts Jax, who reveals Rains may have gotten away, but Wynn had been found guilty of "high treason" and "sabotage" against "country and God." He has been sentenced to "two lifetimes" and that he will be lobotomized. Wynn questions his trial and it is then revealed that he had been convicted previously and had his memories erased. Jax shows him his consent form and says he had been put in the Cube as an observer. Wynn dreams about Rains reuniting with her daughter and praising Wynn as "a superhero." Afterwards, Wynn is placed into the Cube and appears to be mentally handicapped, which makes Cube Zero a possible prequel to the first movie because when Wynn is reintroduced to the Cube, as he exhibits the same qualities as one of the characters in Cube, Kazan.
[edit] Cast
- Zachary Bennett as Eric Wynn, a Cube technician.
- Stephanie Moore as Cassandra Rains, a political demonstrator.
- Michael Riley as Jax, a higher ranking Cube technician.
- Martin Roach as Robert P. Haskell, a soldier employed to take people for the Cube.
- David Huband as Dodd, a Cube technician.
- Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang as Meyerhold, a man trapped in the cube.
- Richard McMillan as Bartok, a man trapped in the cube.
- Terri Hawkes as Jellico, a woman trapped in the cube.
- Tony Munch as Owen, a cube technician placed in the cube.
- Jasmin Geljo as Ryjkin, a man trapped in the cube.
[edit] Traps
The traps in Cube Zero are more similar to the mechanical, plausible traps in the original Cube rather than the more sci-fi traps from Hypercube. Some traps from the original Cube also make return appearances.
- The swinging dicer from the original film makes a brief reappearance, as does the retracting spike room and flamethrowers.
- Nozzles come out of the walls that spray the victim with a clear liquid that looks like water, but is actually a highly corrosive substance. At first the victim seems fine, but after a short while, their body starts to dissolve and deteriorate, leaving nothing but the blackened bones. Ryjkin is killed by this trap.
- Relatively similar to the liquid trap (above) and flamethrowers, a new trap showers the victim in liquid nitrogen, freezing them and causing them to smash upon the floor.
- Needles built into the floor of the cube induce a rapid form of necrotizing fasciitis when stepped on or otherwise touched by victims. They are infected, deteriorate rapidly, and die shortly after. Jellico is killed by this trap.
- Bolts connected to wires are shot across the room. Several of these ensnare the victim. The wires are tightened which cuts the victim into large chunks. Bartok is killed by this trap.
- The doors of the room seal and panels close over them. Arms extend from these panels and unfurl into five dish-like speakers. These speakers then pulverize the victim with intense soundwaves, causing him or her to explode, leaving nothing but their blood-stained clothes. Meyerhold is killed by this trap.
- Presumably lethal beams of electricity appear along all the walls of the room and then start shooting through the center, though these can be dodged with careful placement and some luck.
It is revealed that all rooms can be trap rooms. In one sequence, Wynn and Rains are in a room and Jax activates traps in all surrounding rooms, so they cannot escape. He then begins to activate the trap in the room they are in, but is stopped.
The question of what happens to the remains of the Cube's victims is also answered in Cube Zero. The Cube is swept thermally (a clean sweep) when the cube resets, removing all matter - both the remains of victims and also survivors that have not found a way out. This explains why the device is not littered with the remains of previous sets of victims.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Cube Zero at the Internet Movie Database
- Cube Zero at Allmovie
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