‘Cube’ Is The Canadian Version Of ‘Saw’ You’ve Never Heard Of

As deeply disturbing as they are, there’s something oddly addicting to watching murderous mind games. Over the years, watching regular people trying to outsmart complicated death-defying puzzles has made a lot of people a lot of money, from the Saw franchise to the Hunger Games movies. However, if you’re a fan of this twisted genre, there’s a series of movies you’re probably missing. Welcome to the Cube-verse.

Co-written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, the first Cube movie follows a creepily simple premise. A group of strangers are dropped into a life-size Rubix cube filled with tens of thousands of rooms. They’ll either starve to death or die by the cube’s many insidious puzzles unless they can figure out the cube’s confusing number-based solution. For a movie that combines math and murder, it’s a lot more engaging than you may think.

The characters from the first Cube movie leave the contraption never fully understanding why this torture machine exists or why they were placed inside it. However, it’s that uncertainty as well as the precision with which the victims were selected that makes the madness of this movie even more interesting. Over the course of the film, the main group of victims is narrowed down to a cop (Maurice Dean Wint), a doctor and conspiracy theorist (Nicky Guadagni), a mathematician (Nicole de Boer), and a mysterious man (David Hewlett). Each of these prisoners has a distinct reason for being there and a certain skill that can help them solve the puzzle. However, it’s never revealed exactly why they were chosen.

When Cube was first released, it received mixed reviews from critics, with many simultaneously praising the movie’s insane premise and criticizing its weak acting. However, it’s that combination that makes the movie and its sequels such a wonderful Halloween watch now. Cube’s dialogue was already corny and over-the-top when it was released in 1998, and it’s only gotten worse with time. The resulting movie watches like a high-budget sci-fi thriller with the pacing and character development of a solid B-grade horror movie. Cube is never so scary that it will make you cover your eyes, but it’s delightfully suspenseful enough that you may yell at your television a few times.

Of course, Cube and its sequel Cube 2: Hypercube and prequel Cube Zero aren’t perfect Saw replacements. The Cube movies aren’t nearly as gory as Saw, and there’s less of a moralistic tone to the puzzles. However, if you’re looking for a B-horror watch filled with creepy murder twists and great cinematography, pour yourself a drink and get ready to embrace the scary side of math.

Where to stream Cube