The Big Cube is a 1969 American Psychological Thriller film directed by Tito Davison.
Adriana Roman (Lana Turner), a celebrated stage actress, marries the wealthy Charles Winthrop (Daniel O'Herlihy), who has a teenage daughter named Lisa (Karin Mossberg). A few months later, Charles dies in a boating accident, leaving Adriana in charge of his fortune. Lisa wants to marry her boyfriend Johnny Allen (George Chakiris), an LSD-dealing med student, but Adriana refuses to give her approval. Lisa and Johnny conspire to drive her insane by slipping her LSD, but unbeknownst to Lisa, Johnny hopes to murder her too so the two of them will be the sole heirs.
The Big Cube contains examples of:
- Big "NO!": During one man's bad trip, he yells, "Noooo! They're not gonna get me! They're not gonna get me!"
- Bridal Carry: Lisa is dismayed to see Johnny carrying Bibi (Pamela Rodgers) upstairs this way on what's supposed to be their wedding night.
- Cake Toppers: At Johnny and Lisa's wedding, the groom statue is a bearded hippie wearing a medallion and striped pants, while the bride statue is wearing a bikini and a veil.
- Commonality Connection: Adriana likes Lisa, who has a lot in common with her teenage self, in terms of both appearance and personality. Her feelings are not returned.
- Gaslighting: Lisa and Johnny insist that Adriana is simply having unexplained attacks of hysteria, and anything she saw while tripping on LSD wasn't real. The doctors believe them, and tell Adriana that she's hallucinating from grief over Charles.
- Gold Digger: Johnny is in love with Lisa's fortune, not her.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: At a party at Lisa's mansion, Bibi does a striptease. She's removed her bra when Charles unexpectedly arrives home, causing Bibi to cover herself with her arms.
- Impairment Shot: If a character is on LSD, shots from their perspective usually involves lots of rapid cuts and moving colors and lights.
- Lohengrin and Mendelssohn: A rock cover of the Wedding March plays during Johnny and Lisa's wedding.
- Parent with New Paramour: Despite Adriana's efforts to be friendly, Lisa continues to dislike her, feeling that she's stealing Charles' affection from her. Towards the end, she realizes what a wrong thing she did, and her feelings towards Adriana soften.
- Repressed Memories: Johnny and Lisa's efforts cause Adriana to suppress her memories of everything that happened in the last three months, including her marriage to Charles, his death, and all her interactions with Lisa. This is enough to get her declared legally incompetent.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Johnny slips LSD into people's drinks at parties. He gets kicked out of medical school after one of his victims runs into traffic and dies.
- Waving Signs Around: At the wedding, Johnny's friends wave psychedelic signs that say "Johnny and Lisa do their thing" and "Johnny is Lisa's old man."
- Wedding Ring Removal: When Lisa realizes Johnny never loved her, she angrily flings her wedding ring to the floor.
- You Killed My Father: Lisa blames Adriana for Charles' death, as he died trying to save her. She and Johnny record tapes to play during Adriana's trips, which include Lisa saying, "You killed my father!"
