DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 97 minutes, commentary track, featurette, music video, conceptual art, storyboard comparisons, previews

STUDIO: LION'S GATE

RELEASE DATE: 2-22-2005

ANALYSIS: CUBE ZERO is the prequel that is just as good as the other two CUBE movies. It maintains the mythology of the movies and gives some hints on why people end up in the cube while it doesn't really answer them. Are the subjects prisoners or political undesirables in some deadly lab experiment that will kill most or all or them once they end up in the cube? Also CUBE ZERO shows some of the people behind what goes on in the Cube. The movie shifts between action in the cube and a control room/monitoring station. Wynn and Dodd are assigned to watch things that happen in the cube and perform some tests. The people in the cube have no memories and they supposedly signed a consent form to avoid the death penalty, but Wynn starts to question it when one of the latest lab rats, Rains (Stephanie Moore), has no pink consent form in her file.

CUBE ZERO has great direction, a story that keeps it moving to the end credits, and provide even more questions to the CUBE series. Fans of the first two movies won't be disappointed. Gore fans will be excited by the gruesome deaths in CUBE ZERO.

VIDEO/AUDIO: CUBE ZERO is presented 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. Colors are good. Image detail is great. Blacks are murky and shadow detail is flat (and lacks good detail).

CUBE ZERO can be heard in English 5.1 Dolby Digital or English 2.0 DD with the option of Spanish subtitles. Dialogue can be heard clearly. Music and sound effects are good.

SPECIAL FEATURES: "INSIDE THE BOX"- THE MAKING OF CUBE ZERO is a great featurette on the making of the movie from why the director wrote CUBE ZERO (he wasn't totally satisfied with HYPERCUBE) to set design to how it was filming in the Cube set to interviews with cast and crew. Next is the most funny extra on the DVD, a heavy metal music video filmed in the cube set of CUBE ZERO. Also you can view the conceptual art for the movie (not bad at all) and storyboard comparisons for two of the most gruesome deaths in the movie. The audio commentary (with director Ernie Barbarash) can be found in the Set Up menu. It irritates me that commentary tracks are hidden in the Set Up menu (and not included in the Extras/Special Features section of the DVD). It is nice technical commentary track and worth a listen if you want to hear the director talk about the production.

Rounding out the extras are trailers for SAW, RIDING THE BULLET, FINAL CUT, and HIGH TENSION.

MENUS/PACKAGE ART: The cover is a horror inspired design. it screams terror. The menus aren't bad either. The menu looks like it is on some video camera that is moving around to view the room inside the Cube.

FINAL ANALYSIS: CUBE ZERO is an interesting prequel that will appeal to fans of the other two CUBE movies and the death scenes will be a plus for fans of gore in horror movies.

this DVD Review is (c)3-4-2005 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com and look for additional content at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia