A Nightmare on ‘Mulberry Street’
Well made, character driven, low budget After Dark HorrorFest flick
written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle
directed by Jim Mickle
Mulberry Street is about a handful of tenants that reside in a rundown apartment building in Manhattan. Yes, there’s also mutant rat-zombies, but the film is ultimately about its characters and their struggle, a noble move coming from an independent film. The main character is Clutch (Nick Damici), a retired boxer awaiting the return of his daughter, Casey (Kim Blair), from her stint in the army. He is undoubtedly a bad ass, as demonstrated by fighting his way through the enemy bare-handed, but he’s not your typical movie tough guy. The way his character is artfully written by Damici and director Jim Mickle, who co-wrote, makes the viewer actually care about him, as well as the other people portrayed. The first half hour of the film is spent solely developing the cast. It’s a refreshingly character-driven film.
That said, you don’t see too much of the monsters. The rats of the city have become inexplicably mutated, and the bite of one to a human soon starts an outbreak of rat people that rapidly spreads until the city is quarantined. What you have is, essentially, a slight variation on the classic zombie flick formula, but the virus represents moral decay. Due to the film’s low budget most of the gory scenes are shot shakily with handheld cameras and edited using the quick cut technique. I’m not a fan of this, but there’s something unnerving about never fully seeing these monsters. The rest of the film is artfully directed with engaging cinematography and atmosphere. Much of it was shot in Mickle’s own apartment and on location in the streets with no permits due to budgetary constraints. Additionally, the cast is made up of a group of friends. Mickle’s lucky that his confidants are as talented as he is, as the cast, coupled with the eloquent script, puts bigger budget films to shame.
The connection to 28 Days Later is an obvious one. One may go as far as calling it a rip off, but that would be unfair to the filmmakers who worked so hard on this fine piece of cinema. However, the approach certainly comes off as being inspired by the Brit flick. It also has an apparent urban Night of the Living Dead feel to it, even going as far as including social commentary a la George Romero with its political undertones. Sure, the plot isn’t anything special, but seeing the events through the characters’ eyes give the film a more personal appeal to the audience. In the wrong hands this film could have been a disaster — even a cheesy exploitation flick, given the plot — but here it was executed with class and sophistication, surly breath of fresh air for any genre fan.
This is the only After Dark HorrorFest film I’ve seen this year, but it was better than the majority of what the last one had to offer, and I expect the same regarding this year. Despite its modest budget, Mulberry Street is a somber, intense experience. Its influences are obvious, sure, but it’s still an ambitious look at post 9/11 New York City. If they keep this up Damici and Mickle have a promising career ahead of them.
Horror 101 gives Mulberry Street a 74 out of 101
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Like last year Im just gonna wait for these movies to come out on DVD
[...] Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release the “8 Films to Die For” from the After Dark Horrorfest II on March 18th. To refresh your memories, the titles that played this past year were Borderland, Crazy Eights, The Deaths of Ian Stone, Lake Dead, Mulberry Street, Nightmare Man, Tooth & Nail, and Unearthed. We only caught one of the films but will probably be reviewing many of the DVDs. In the mean time you can read my review of Mulberry Street, which was better than any of the first Horrofest’s flicks, here. [...]
[...] individually or in a box set. We only caught Mulberry Street, and you can read our review of it here. The rest of the releases are straight to video, including The Lost, a Jack Ketchum adaptation from [...]