Woodyanders Review of The Big Cube

The Big Cube (1968)

A hysterically campy psychedelic 60's kitsch hoot

[8/10 · 29 July 2007]

Sweet, innocent, but petulant young rich girl Lisa (the cute Karin Mossberg, who sports a great funny accent) doesn't get along with her new former stage actress stepmother Adriana (a game performance by faded 40's leading lady Lana Turner). After her wealthy father Charles (a solid Dan O'Herlithy) dies in a boating accident, Lisa and her smarmy, gold-digging, conniving dope-head boyfriend Johnny (a nicely slimy George Chakiris; Bernardo in "West Side Story") decide to drive Adriana crazy by spiking her medication with LSD so they can get their greedy hands on her substantial inheritance. Tito Davison's heavy-handed direction, working from William Douglas Lansford's deliciously lurid script, milks the outrageously melodramatic plot for all its worth: we've got several wild anything-goes freak-out parties, lots of crazy far-out trip scenes, hilariously gaudy loud'n'tacky visuals, rapid-fire editing, and even a smattering of surprising gratuitous nudity. The admirably sincere acting from a sturdy cast adds immensely to the infectiously campy fun: Richard Egan as Adriana's concerned best friend Frederick Lonsdale, yummy redhead Pamela Rogers as Lisa's vampy, zany free-spirited gal pal Bibi, Carlos East as funky painter Lalo, and Regina Torne as the evil Queen Bee. Val Johns' swingin' groovy score, Gabriel Figueroa's bright, garish, splashy color cinematography, and the cool soundtrack (the theme song "Lean on Me" is quite catchy) are all suitably histrionic. A real wacky riot.