Cube (1998) 15 - ***

Cube (1998) 15 - ***


Dir: Vincenzo Natali


Starring: David Hewlett, Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint


Synopsis: Six people wake up in a series of cube shaped rooms, some safe, some with deadly traps. They must overcome personal differences and work together to find a way through the chambers to find a way out whilst they are picked off one by one.


Verdict: It's easy to see how Cube could be one of the influences behind the Saw franchise. People trapped in a cage with challenges and the growing sense of paranoia and desperation. That said, this film seems more intelligent, keeping me more involved and interested then the first Saw film did (I found it a tad boring, and couldn't be bothered with any of the sequels).

The start off goes from a quite rapid introduction to the situation, before slowing down whilst they try to figure out the sequence of rooms and traps to find their way out. It soon picks up again as the suspicion, conspiracy theories and paranoia build, raising the tension.


The film makes the most of what it has, barely using any soundtrack other than in a couple of scenes that really need it, which really helps this film to set you on edge throughout the watching. This, coupled with the few special effects, and the same set but with different lighting makes this film brilliantly simple, and all about the skills of the actors.

This said, the special effects, though few and far between, are brilliant (for 1998) and mainly used for the more gruesome scenes and particularly complex traps.

The actors are mainly small name, the biggest of which probably being David Hewlett, who has had a starring role is Stargate:Atlantis and bit parts in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Natali's other sci-fi thriller, Splice.


An enjoyably clever film, Cube provides a bigger dose of conundrums and traps than the Saw film that - seems to be - based upon it.