Cube is not for squares

Cube is a skillfully written, edited, and except for the occasional histrionics from its cast of unknowns, decently acted movie which reminds me of the quote by Winston Churchill, "A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." A synopsis from the Internet Movie Database gives us an overall picture:

Six total strangers awaken one day to find themselves alone in a cubical maze. Once they meet, they work together using their given skills and talents to survive the deadly traps which guard many of the colored cubic rooms. Using Leaven's mathematical skills, they press forward, upward, and downward through the hatches to try and find the outer shell. [Written by Ryan.]

Cube is a horror movie for the danger inherent in each room the band has to cross to get out of the Cube. For a wrong choice there are devious traps which produce horrible, gruesome results.

There are group members who, despite having given leadership to another, have problems with decisions and make their displeasure known. It leads to conflict, and in some cases, death. Cube is science fiction because the unusual structure they are in, with its moving rooms, has an unknown purpose. Maybe it's a test, like rats in a maze. Only in this case, instead of a reward for choosing correctly, for a bad decision there is the ultimate punishment. It's a mystery because the purpose of the cube is never revealed, and despite speculation by some group members of aliens or government conspiracy, as the audience we're just as much in the dark as the characters in the movie.

I like that it sets my imagination free to come up with something that satisfies me. If you're someone who has to have everything tied up neatly at the end you will not like Cube.

For some reason, and this could be part of the overall mystery, the characters are named after prisons: Quentin, Leaven and Worth, Rennes (French women's prison), Holloway (London), Kazan (Russian).

"Five Characters In Search Of An Exit," a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone, is claimed to be a partial inspiration for Cube.

Cube was made in 1997, and spawned a couple of sequels, which don't match the original. It's a Canadian movie, and for some reason some really interesting low budget movies come out of Canada.

A feature on the DVD shows pre-production sketches, something I always find interesting.