Cube (Movie, 1997)

Introduction:
Despite what anyone might think, I'm not super into horror films. Oftentimes, horror films take me out of the horror because of stupid characters, confusing locations, or just downright not interesting villains. Enter Cube, a 1997 Canadian Horror/Sci-Fi film that delivers something very unique, and very engaging. The setting is a maze filled in identical cube-shaped rooms riddled with traps. A simple setting, but one the film pulls off properly, and the actors sell their characters very convincingly. But, how well does the film does it job? Here we go.

How it Looks:
The thing about the Cube is that, well, there's really not a lot of diversity when it comes to the setting. The behind-the-scenes guys reused the same cube, changing the panels on the wall to have different colors, and that's about it. The traps look good, even after all these years, and the moment there's a break in the not-so-monotonous cube also looks good. And, that's about it, really. Everything looks good, mostly because there's very little to look at, when it comes to things that aren't the actors.

How it Sounds:
Just like in the 'How it Looks' category, the sounds are simple and minimalist, leading to a simple judgement: It sounds great, in it's simplicity. The actors sometimes seem to have different quality in the mikes they use, but this might just be a glitch on my computer. The mechanical whirls and the grumbling of the cube sound deep and satisfying. All in all, it sounds great.

How it Stories:
This is where the review goes down, but just a bit. The movie relies on exposition between the characters to guide the story, in order to make sure the setting doesn't change, and that the movie's focus doesn't deviate. It's not necessarily bad to explains things via characters, but the exposition and character interactions are a bit convoluted in the manner that it is shown, mostly because of the fact that there's just no narration or external explanation, sort of like a show-don't-tell. Despite it being a Horror film, it spends far too much time talking math, which might be a turn-off for some people. I personally liked the story, though the change-ups for the final scenes felt forced and out of nowhere, specially since the movie tries it's best to not bog itself down with the tedious parts of the characters' journey, but this makes it hard to keep track of how long the characters have been stuck in the Cube, which is counterproductive when the characters start behaving a bit more irritable and crazy. I don't blame this on how it stories, but on the limitations of the medium, as a book or a TV Series might have been arguably better suited to tell this story in a more convincing fashion.

Verdict and Conclusion:
At the end of the day, Cube is a hidden gem of a movie that should be watched by any fan of Sci-Fi or Horror. It does feel clunky when it comes to it's story-telling, and how some of the characters rationalize certain things, but that's a flaw most horror films carry with them- A staple of the genre, if you will. However, the movie gets 4 stars out of 5, losing that one star for the exposition of the characters which, though a necessity, it still could've been shuffled around to be a bit more logical, or better constructed. I'll always suggest this movie for people to watch, though.