Customer Reviews

Mulberry Street: After Dark Horror Fest

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"Mulberry Street" is not so much about rats who turn humans into flesh-eating monsters in New York City. It's much more basic than that: it's all about tension and about how much can be crammed into a single story. The rats are more of an afterthought, really--they may serve as the catalyst for a medical crisis, but when their job is done, they conveniently disappear. That's a good thing, because at a certain point, we don't pay attention to them anymore. What we do pay attention to is how the tension builds. And that's why this movie is so effective; it does nothing but build itself up, and it keeps building even during the end credits. I repeatedly asked myself what would happen next, and that's always the sign of a good horror film, especially one so taut, brooding, and fatalistic.

The best thing is that it tells an understandable story without lingering on extensive character development. The first named billed in the opening credits is Nick Damici, but that doesn't mean he plays the main character. I don't think there is a main character in this film; it takes place in a rundown New York City apartment located on Mulberry Street, and the people who inhabit it live in a kind of community. Damici plays an aging boxer named Clutch, who eagerly awaits a visit from his daughter. Clutch's friend is Coco (Ron Brice), a gay man who probably has stronger feelings for Clutch than he would care to admit. But Clutch seems to show an interest in Kay (Bo Corre), a single mom who gets by as a bartender. Her son, Ross (Tim House), is a detached teenager, showing no interest in school or in life. The only thing he seems to be interested in is photography, and he takes plenty of pictures even within the confines of his room. The building's elderly men--Charlie (Larry Fleischman) and Frank (Larry Medich)--function on dependent levels; one wheels an oxygen tank around while the other seems to be getting confused about things.

The one character who exists outside of the apartment complex is Clutch's daughter, Casey (Kim Blair), a military officer on her way home from serving in Iraq. Her face is covered with scars, and she tires to cover them up by letting her bangs down. She initially doesn't say or do much, but we still get the sense that's she's incredibly insecure about the way she looks, and is probably more insecure about her military status. There's a moment when a train platform custodian thanks her for her service to her country; she says a polite thank you, but doesn't express any pride or show any sense of accomplishment. In a later scene, in which she rides a train, a woman talking on a cell phone sits in front of her. This woman gives subtle yet significant signals, indicating that Casey's scars are making her uncomfortable. Casey picks up on this, and tries to compensate by letting her bangs down once again.

It isn't until the rat crisis that she begins to apply herself. The same can be said for the characters in the apartment complex--a large rat, thought to be dead, bites the building's superintendent. Soon after, he begins to feel funny. Hair grows on top of his ears. His sense of smell becomes inhumanly strong. He develops a taste for raw meat. The tenants don't suspect anything until they start watching the news; apparently, a full-blown epidemic has taken hold of New York City, one so deadly that the American government has decided to quarantine Manhattan. Rats have bitten people all over the city, and it doesn't take long for these people to transform into mutant creatures with a taste for human meat. It quickly becomes a matter of survival, pitting a handful of Mulberry Street residents against an entire apartment full of flesh eaters.

I'm probably making this film sound like a low-tread rehash, but that really isn't the case. This is a story that doesn't depend on a scary idea, but rather on how it shapes itself around a scary idea. Since many of the characters are engulfed in shadow, and since most of the terror is hidden in complete darkness, not much is seen when the creatures attack. A lot of what happens to the victims is left up to the imagination, and that's rarely done in horror movies these days; we have to think about their fates, and thinking is always scarier than actually seeing. There a point at which one creature is trapped in Clutch's closet; when Coco reopens the door he sees that the creature has chewed its way through the ceiling, meaning that it's now loose within the walls of the apartment complex. It doesn't matter where it went or if we even see it again--all that matters is that we no longer see it and that we don't know what will happen next.

The concept of rat/human hybrids terrorizing New York is downright silly, yet the people behind "Mulberry Street" were able to make it seem real. And consider the fact that a hint of satire runs all throughout: a billboard for developer displays the slogan "The Neighborhood is Changing," and a newscaster solemnly reports that help isn't arriving fast enough for the hundreds left alive in Manhattan. The President (whoever that is in this story) has declared a state of emergency, but information is being gathered too slowly to be of any real help. This only adds to the sense of isolation felt by the Mulberry Street tenants, increasing that overwhelming sense of What Now. This is a dark, unnerving story, one that refuses to let the audience relax.

I have to say this film caught me by surprise and is one of my favorite horror films ever made. The genius behind the film is the excellent writing that focuses on the depth of relationships between the characters. As the film starts off, you get a glimpse of the various characters going through another day in their lives. Meanwhile, you catch glimpses on the TVs in the background that something bad is beginning to happen in New York, but life goes on. The spreading epidemic is nothing but background noise.

Needless to say, the situation spirals out of control and hits home as the tenants of the building fight for lives as the city falls apart around them. I almost cried twice, but the end had me bawling (and I was not the only man in the theater who was reduced to tears, but the intense emotional climax of the film).

The writer/star of the film wrote a prior film about the unspoken love between men and that theme returns in this film as a gay tenant struggles with unrequited love. I have rarely seen a gay character handled so sensitively in popular cinema- much less a horror flick. These are very real characters, not a bunch of models, scientists, sheriffs, or other horror cliches. Don't miss this movie!

Holy cow! I'm not one to get all excited by an indie horror movie but this movie would have to be the exception.

The people of NYC are under attack by rats. The government has quarantined Manhattan and all hell's broken loose! Those who've been bitten have mutated into "rat people."

This movie makes you care about the characters which makes it that much harder to see them die. I really liked this flick and highly recommend it.

For the second year in a row we have been graced with the After Dark Horrofest. Well saying "graced" my be a bit overboard considering almost every film developed under this festival has been a disaster to sub par at best. We love the horror genre and encourage the whole indi film movement but there has to be some substence to what we're watching or why bother? Short on budget doesn't mean it has to suck. All it means is you have to rely less on killer effects and dish up a good story with some realistic chills. Mulbery Street actually succeeds in this way to an extent. Not so much scary but the concept definately has a chill factor. Who wouldn't get scared by being preyed upon by rat zombies in a tenament home?

Our story takes place in a New York City tenament home where 6 seperate residents are dealing with the fact that their complex will be demolished due to an urban renewal. One great aspect of the film is the believability of these characters. It's not a bunch of young kids aimlessly running around getting picked off as in the typical horror flicks of today. It's actual real people living their everyday lives. The main character is a former boxer and his close friend who are awaiting the boxers daughters return from Iraq. Then there are a couple of guys who live on the upper floor, one being an elderly man who needs an oxygen tank to survive, and a single mother and her son. So you start to actually care for the characters instead of routing for them to vanish. As they all go about their day the super is trying to get the water to work in the boiler room. While working he's bitten on the arm by a rat. Within minutes he begins to have strange symptoms. He goes upstairs to rest and starts to see hair growing on his ears.

The more time that goes by the worse he starts getting and it becomes obvious to everyone that something strange is going on. The news continues to report rat attacks throughout the city. Roughly every five minutes new breaking news appears stating the rat attacks are becoming so frequent they must suspend all subway service and want everyone to remain inside. What they don't know is that these rats are passing some strange virus around which are turning the infected into rat like zombie creatures. It's a lot like 28 Days Later but with a different storyline. From here on out you follow each tenant as they work together to save themselves from the rat zombies. It does become intense at times and overall is an enjoyable and creepy film. The use of atmosphere is key in this one. They really did a great job driving home the chills in that way. The camera lighting is very dim and you get a very claustrophobic feeling while inside the cramped apartments.

Overall the film was good with some flaws. But why be so cridical on an independent film. Considering the small budget they did a great job. The focus on atmosphere was awesome and the acting was really good. A couple cool facts about Mulberry Street is how they had to shoot essential footage in the middle of the crowded streets of Manhattan without any official permission to film there, and how all the actors in this film are friends or in some way related to the director, so none of them received any payments. Not bad when you factor all that in. So if you're looking for a great film you won't find it in Mulberry Street. But if you go into it expecting an above average indi flick you will really like it. It's definately worth checking out.

The After Dark series is a great collection for horror-flick lovers out there. All the films have good stories, and although most had low budgets, I think it adds to the appeal. There are a lot of great, gritty horror scenes in this collection. I particularly enjoyed "Mulberry Street" which has a young, up-and-coming actress named Kim Blair. Blair gives a chiling performance fighting off the infestation that plagues Mulberry Street until its haunting, climactic ending. She is defintiely a rising star in the industry and I hope to catch her in future releases. Defintiely worth the money!

This movie has all the elements of a zombie movie, but with rat people instead of zombies, and it is fantastic. I really enjoyed the small things about the movie like how all the actors were just ordinary people and not models flown in from California, it gave the movie a bit more realism. Like I said earlier, it plays out like a zombie apocalypse, but with much more agile opponents, that raises the fear factor tenfold. As cheesy as the movie sounded it really was pulled off incredibly well, it was dark, bloody and explicitly somber, with an ending that left me begging for more. The best of Horrorfest '07? I would have to say so.

I just pre-ordered this item; I'm so glad it's coming out on DVD. Saw this film at the Tribeca Film Festival and loved it. It's smart, witty and devilishly creepy with a great script and an excellent cast full of groovy New York character actors. The director and production team pull off an impressive feat of presenting a slick, polished film with fully-realized characters and spine-tingling creepy crawlies, all on what seems to have been a modest budget. Good job, folks! Can't wait to see what they do next.

My expectations have generally been low for horrorfest films, and most of the titles in this batch have done little to change my mind. However, Mulberry Street is a character driven film that actually indulges emotions deeper than simply fright and the desire for bloodlust. There has been mention of the similarities to 28 Days, but that was far more global. Where Mulberry differentiates itself is in the characters it develops both before any of the horrors occur, as well as during the chaos. We are introduced early to a small group of people with ties to, where else, a Mulberry Street tenement. Their reactions, relationships, challenges, and fears are followed throughout the film while the rest of the city collapses around them. The antagonist of the story, if you will, is a virus derived from rats causing residents to become enraged, flesh-starved beasts. While there are plenty of the graphic scenes that are typical in a movie like this, the focus remains on the plight of our small band of tenants. Because we know them and do care, their collective fates do concern us, and there is an emotional resonance to their suffering. Some are the moments are frightful, many heart-wrenching, but all heartfelt. There is a feeling that this is a drama placed in a horror setting, and it doesn't disappoint.

This is a story idea that could've gone very wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this film was done.

It was very Indie-looking from the beginning, with gritty film stock and no-name actors, but after worrying for the first few minutes that this could mean "cheesy", I realized that the film felt authentic instead. I was made to feel a part of the community of Mulberry Street, so when things start to go wrong, I felt as anxious as the characters.

I like films that make me forget that I am watching a film. I like it when I get lost in the world I am watching, no matter how fantastical the situation may be. The writers / director kept a story very grounded in "reality", that could've been silly or unbelievable. They didn't over-explain or show too much of the horror / gore of it all. I think the best horror stories are the ones where the audience feels as though they are secretly peeping into other peoples' worlds. We get to sit in our comfy chairs and watch their safe little lives fall apart in a horrific and disturbing way. This film pushes it just far enough without breaking that line where "suspension of disbelief" becomes "that would NEVER happen".

If you like all things horror, old school style, I think you will like this film. It is clearly made by people who love the genre and care a great deal for the underground art of move-making. I hope to see more from these writers and director. They have a new fan.

While I love horror movies, one about rodents usually aren't my thing. However, I enjoyed almost all of the 2006 Horrorfest films, so I was excited to find out there were more the next year! Mulberry Street is the first of the 2007 Horrorfest films that I watched.

I happened to watch it the same week I saw "I Am Legend" and while they are certainly similar in subject matter, they're both very different films.

Mulberry Street is pretty good. The film is choppy and extremely dark, which frequently makes it hard to tell what is going on. But, that kind of adds to the suspense. The actors are all superb, especially the performances by Kim Blair and Nick Damici. The movie spends a lot developing the characters. All of them are interesting human beings with a story and not the usual "hot" bunch of teenagers.

The ending was a little bit of a shock, but I don't need neat, tidy endings all the time anyway, because let's face it life isn't always neat and tidy.

Good film.