Mulberry Street

Trademark After Dark Films

Mulberry Street was advertised as a zombie movie. This, my friends, is not true. In fact, it’s about… *dramatic pause* Rat-People! I know it says zombies on the box, but that’s just marketing. In the marketers’ defense, the rat people are very zombie-esque. Like zombies they spread a disease that turns regular joes into rat people, they eat human flesh, and along with developing the features of a rat they also look a bit on the decayed side. At first I was slightly perturbed to find the stunning lack of the walking dead, but after about twenty minutes I started having enough fun that I didn’t care anymore. The use of misdirection in advertising is simple. It prepares the viewer for the general feel of the movie. I suppose it is a new look at zombies; I was just pumped to see what Horrorfest had to offer to the zombie world. Like all good zombie flicks this one has a bit of topicality to it, making a statement about the New York rat problem. It’s an interesting watch that takes us through the events in a group of tenants’ lives leading up to and during the rat people outbreak.

Trademark After Dark Films

This movie is a good example of how to the walk the line between silly and serious. The visual style is like a darker version of Dawn of the Dead (2004). The rat-zombie-people move fast in this one, but unlike Dawn of the Dead (2004) it makes sense. These people are becoming animals, not walking corpses. The style keeps it serious. You never feel like it’s supposed to be comedy, but they do acknowledge that the subject matter is a bit ridiculous. There’s a particular line said by the character Victor, a bar owner, that is similar to, “Rat people… F^*#ing crazy.” I appreciate that. Strangely enough that line is really what sold me on this flick. The rat people are killed with reasonable ease. By this, I mean they can be killed like any regular person and don’t require damage to a particular part of the anatomy, like the head. If you’re capable of killing one without being partially eaten, then kudos to you.

Trademark After Dark Films

This movie is an isolated incident as opposed to the grand scale zombie-apocalypse movies like what’s been popularized by Romero. It’s limited to Manhattan, which allows for a possible containment, but that’s not what the movie focuses on. We watch the survival efforts of a small number of tenants in a crappy downtown apartment building. Relationships are a little hazy for a while and aren’t completely defined by the end of the movie. They establish enough that you understand who the individuals are and for the most part the fact that they’re neighbors is good enough. A little clarity would have been nice, though. The most important relationship is defined. A former boxer named Clutch, with the efforts of his friend/fellow tenant, prepare for the return of Clutch’s daughter from the military. Unfortunately she leaves a war zone for a… well, I suppose a war zone.

Trademark After Dark Films

I can’t decide between this one and Borderland as to which one is my favorite movie from 2007 Horrorfest. If you only see one of these movies make sure it’s this one or Borderland.

The Verdict: It’s a worthy buy, but if you’re not open to the idea of rat-people you may only want to rent.

Next: Nightmare Man and Unearthed

-Vince