I’m a goddamn sucker for single room movies. I know some people hate them, and I completely understand why, but for me I buy in every time. The suspense is built without even really having to doing anything; just knowing you will be experiencing an entire ninety minute movie while the characters are confined to one single space gives me a semi-chub.
Cube is a mind-fuck of a movieNow like I said, there are a lot of haters out there who hate this form of movie. So I’m going to split the difference with you today. CUBE isn’t exactly a single room film. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s quite a horror film. What it is, is a sick and tormenting, mind-fuck of a movie that is just as complex as it is simple. Seven strangers from all walks of life, wake up in a giant size, pseudo-Rubik’s Cube in which every identical room inside said CUBE wants to kill you.
The characters go through a Lord of the Flies-type experience. First learning about each other, then doing their best to govern themselves, until chaos ensues. The limited knowledge given for each person is just enough to keep them interesting yet never revealing more than we really need to know.
This movie actually doesn’t spell much out for you at all. You’re left to your own conclusions basically from the get-go. Which makes following along easy for an idiot like me! It keeps that eerie feeling of wondering who, what, when, where and why is this all happening — without ever really figuring it out.
For whatever reason, this movie isn’t nearly as popular as it should be. Its twenty years old but there is nothing in it which dates it or cheapens it at all. Which is even more surprising seeing as this is a Canadian made film. And being a Canuck myself I can tell you, and this may be a controversial opinion, but a lot of small budget, Canadian made film or TV projects are simply terrible.
I understand all the reasoning why we, north of the border, may not have the production quality of those in the USA but that may also be what gives this kind of Canadian movie its true “charm.” My two favorite shows in the world are Canadian made, super low budget, yet ultra-funny and creative (Kenny vs. Spenny and The Trailer Park Boys).
Much like those two shows, CUBE embraces its flaws while highlighting its strengths. So that might be why I have such a fascination with this badboy and choose to disregard some of the horrendous acting. It’s more or less a single room thriller, made on a super tight budget with tons of creativity, fun kills, great visuals and an even better mystery. It stands out because there isn’t a lot like it floating around.
So do yourself a favor: if you’re sick of reboots, super hero movies or cheeseball comedies then give CUBE a watch. It’s not full of gore or jump scares so your girlfriend will give it a chance too.
If you made it this far in my article then you obviously have a gift for making it through cheap Canadian content. But this movie is a perfect example that low-budget does not always have to mean low-quality.
Fear, paranoia, suspicion, desperation are all found within the six sides of this CUBE.
A regular go-to, show-any-friend-who-hasn’t-seen-much-horror, watches-a-couple-times-a-year movie that I constantly find myself going back too, is arguably one of the most realistic non-fiction movies in the genre. It is a movie that gets under your skin on such a humanely realistic level that no one, anywhere, can say they haven’t thought of the situation happening to them. I’m not talking about the monster under your bed, but more that strange sound you hear in your closet. That fear of looking out your bedroom window and seeing someone looking back. This movie reflects that all too real vibe of being watched but too scared to look and actually see but what happens when you do.
This all goes back to why your Mom told you to never talk to THE STRANGERS.
Keep reading after the trailer
From the opening prologue that teaches you about the “real life” couple that was subjected to this madness thus inspiring the film, I’m always hooked. With only a little backstory, this movie wastes little time in its quest to unnerve you. The rare art of having little to no background music forces you to sit and marinate in all the dialogue, noises and dread shared between the characters. A tactic often used poorly, but when correct, brings a sense of urgency and suspense to a scene.
I’m going to do my best to not spoil anything, although this movie is not one to overthink. It has an incredibly basic plot of having your home (that personal feeling of your safe place) invaded by people that you have no connection with. This invasion is random – an act with no rhyme or reason other than to hurt and scare.
These strangers aren’t just out for blood. They seem to want to scare you much deeper than any wound can. It is much like how my love for Freddy Krueger began. He wasn’t only on the hunt for victims but rather he took great enjoyment in the traumatization before their demise. Ultimately the sadism of the predator’s actions is what satisfies them. These three masked intruders seem to share the same love for that kind of macabre arousal.
Why are you doing this to us?
The setting is the real star of the movie for me: a beautiful, somewhat outdated, home sitting on a large chunk of land. A long gravel driveway leads up to it. Far enough on the outskirts of town to feel isolated. Funny enough, it almost perfectly mirrors my first girlfriend’s house, allowing me to really picture myself there and in the couple’s shoes. The vastness of the property actually serves as the main limitation too because you are looking for any option to escape and end this nightmare.
The utter madness displayed by the three strangers really is the terrifying part. Worse than The Devil’s Rejects because those people are whacko and make no qualms to hide it. You could say that these strangers are all mentally ill but you can also imagine them just being terribly bored with life. That’s what is really off-putting about it all. There is a real sense that they are all simply making this up as they go along. It is like they jumped into this scenario without any plan, yet seem to have no emotion or worry about it going forward. That’s what is terrifying! They could just be anyone; acting upon one bad thought.
I’ve seen a lot of horror movies in my life both fiction and non-fiction (true crime); documentaries with real footage that have audio so you hear serial killers give detailed descriptions of their murders. But there are a few scenes in this movie which will forever haunt me. The shots where you see these faceless entities hiding in the shadows with only enough light to show their masks remain a particular highlight. They watch you from near and far. This psychological torment is something I still think about any time I hear a bump in the night.
Even after all that horror is completed, the sun rises and a new day starts, the absolute creepiest, weirdest, skin crawling, spine tingling, nightmare inducing line is said (in my opinion). The female lead Kristen (Liv Tyler) simply asks “Why are you doing this to us?” and the female stranger responds….”Because you were home.”
Sweet dreams thinking on that one guys. And whether or not we will ever get to have the long rumoured and production stalled ‘The Strangers 2’, there is no denying exactly what this 2008, 10 million dollar budgeted, horror movie gave us that nine years later I am still scared to think about who could be outside my window or at the front door.
In the horror genre, especially in the era of remakes and sequels, creativity sometimes wears thin. About 44 years ago, a movie came onto the scene which is still talked about as being one of the, if not greatest, scary movies of all time. The Exorcist launched one of the most overused, sometimes abused, tired and played out subject matter that is still going today.
Finding a movie about possession is about as easy as looking for something with ghosts in it. But when I stumbled upon The Last Exorcism a couple of years ago, I fell in love. Now granted, I haven’t seen every movie about satanic possession, but I have seen a big handful which is why I liked this one so much!
Keep reading after the trailer
Being a professional wrestler, you become a skeptic of everything. Ever. You learn that just about everything in life has some amount of “fake” poured into it. So you take everything with a grain of salt. That exact skepticism is what made me love this particular movie.
Basically, the Cliff’s Notes are as follows: Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), who was raised in the church since childhood, learns the ways of performing an exorcism and proceeds to help people for years with the spiritual guidance of God. Until one day, his own little boy is born with complications and is saved only by the doctors. The Reverend then realizes his belief in God had no part in saving his son — it was all science. From that point onwards, his belief is gone yet he continues to help people who are possessed via placebo type methods; inviting a documentary crew to film his process.
Tricks of the Exorcism trade
The routine works rather well until he visits the Sweetzer family.
Now let’s be honest, as different as this one is, it does have a few classic possession style movie tropes in it. But it sprinkles its own unique style of salt and pepper to keep a little variety on that sub-genre plate. The obligatory sweet, innocent girl in need of the exorcism (Ashley Bell) tows the line between cute and creepy. The family is as sketchy as possible; constantly making you rethink everything you’ve just seen. Even the Reverend fighting his own battle of beliefs the entire time adds to the delicacies of the story playing out as the movie progresses.
My personal favorite scene is at the beginning of the movie when the Reverend is showing the film crew all his tricks of the exorcism trade. This is where the viewer gets to see all the tools, “gimmicks,” in which he uses to convince the families that his exorcism is working though in reality, it being all smoke and mirrors.
It’s a neat mix of found footage, satanic possession, mystery, horror and even comedy; not taking itself too seriously early on to not knowing where it will end later. A small cast of very interesting characters added a compelling mix for the viewer. Each character was given some depth to them as a ploy to keep you thinking. I honestly love this movie and every twist and turn it takes.
Originally released in 2010, this one kind of flew under the radar. While making a good amount of money, there are many fans out there who don’t remember it. I will sum this up to the fact that one or two of these kinds of movies were released around that same time. Or perhaps it seems that the formula is used in at least one movie a year? Eventually they all blur together from an advertising perspective. Who really knows? The Last Exorcism is definitely worth seeking out to watch. Then watch The Last Exorcism: Part II for good measure. Don’t take my word for it. I only ask….The Devil commands.
I was raking my brain with what movie I was gonna write about this week. You see, as much as I love Halloween, horror, and all things gory, I’m also one of those assholes so full of Christmas spirit. As soon as Labour Day passes, my brain starts thinking about decorating! Now with Halloween being a week behind us, the sickness becomes even stronger. I have to physically stop myself from watching Holiday movies until December. Pretty much the month of November becomes as useless of a month as Wednesday is in the work-week.
Check it out… Rachel from ‘Friends’ is in this movie!
As I try to power through these next thirty days, debating what movies to write about, I decided to turn on one of my favourite shows. While not knowing it, this show would hold my inspiration. “An Idiot Abroad” is a show where comedian Ricky Gervais sends his bonehead best friend Karl around the world to learn and experience different cultures. Well for the first two seasons he travelled alone, but by the third season, Karl expressed how he “would enjoy a little company this season while traveling.” Well, Ricky took that literally, and for season three, sent this pint-sized bundle of joy alongside – yes Warwick Davis himself.
And there was my inspiration for this article, Mr. Warwick Davis. A legend. A man with a credits list as long as Jason Voorhies’ kill count. It’s no secret that we really know him for just one major accomplishment (maybe two for Jedi fans out there) and that is: Leprechaun.
Now as usual, I’m not gonna review this movie. I’m simply gonna write about what I like and try to honeydick you into watching or re-watching it again. BUT – how can you not want to watch this? It’s about a cereal box character that came to life to hunt down his missing gold. All the while we get to see Rachel from Friends clumsily try to run away, while her co-stars deliver some of the most choreographed acting off all time. I mean this all in a good way. Also, some of the 90s fashion in this badboy is worthy of the watch alone.
To this day, Leprechaun has one of my favourite kills in any movie ever. And – SPOILER ALERT – it comes when he decides to use a pogo stick on a guy’s chest. This movie also has one of my favourite chase scenes of all time, and I don’t mean car chase, but maniac after victim chase. I’m talking the classic part where Jennifer Aniston is running through an empty hospital while that Irish small fry is chasing her on a wheelchair! It gets better when he fixes himself a miniature go-kart and T-bones a full size truck causing it to roll head-over-asshole straight down a hill.
With the entire pot of Grade-A cheese in this movie, there is nothing that makes it not fun to watch. What it lacks in dialogue, it makes up for in creativity. Where it lacks in logic, it corrects itself in fun. I know this movie is labelled a Horror/Comedy, and maybe it was when it was released in 1993 but in 2016, the only scary thing about this movie is how it doesn’t get the praise it deserves.
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This movie won’t keep you up all night, or have you fearing another jump scare, but it will make you appreciate how perfect Warwick Davis is in the role as Leprechaun. Sequels, and the remake aside, the original film had an undeniable blend of phenomenal make-up FX, hilariously clichéd catchphrases, and constant use of the absolute most random items as weapons. This movie/franchise is so overlooked despite having an impressive five additional entries to the original series.
So as we mosey our way thru this useless month known as November, kill some time watching this Leprechaun penguin walk his way to the end of the rainbow. Then do it all again in March for St. Patrick’s Day.
SPOILER ALERT x2! Leprechaun dies by having a piece of bubble gum, wrapped in a four leaf clover, slingshot down his throat (Bart Simpson style). Yeah, you read that right, go experience it for yourself.
