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| Mulberry Street | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster | |
| Directed by | Jim Mickle |
| Written by | Nick Damici Jim Mickle |
| Produced by | Victor Assante Rene Bastian Adam Folk Tim House Linda Moran |
| Starring | Nick Damici Kim Blair Ron Brice Bo Corre Tim House Larry Fleischman Larry Medich Javier Picayo Antone Pagan Lou Torres John Hoyt |
| Cinematography | Ryan Samul |
| Edited by | Jim Mickle |
| Music by | Andreas Kapsalis |
| Distributed by | After Dark Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60,000[2] |
Mulberry Street is a 2006 Americanhorror film directed byJim Mickle, written byNick Damici and Jim Mickle, and starring Nick Damici. It was released byAfter Dark Films as a part of their8 Films to Die For 2007.
Set during a long and hot summer day and night, a deadly infection breaks out onMulberry Street in downtown Manhattan, causing humans to devolve into blood-thirsty monstrosities. Most of the information in the film comes from TV news broadcasts where as a result of constant urban decay, pollution and unbearable heat, the sewer rats of Manhattan are quickly spreading an unknown and horrible disease that causes its victims to mutate into ravenous and bloodthirsty rat-creatures. Once bitten, people quickly turn into rabid-like creatures with the appearance and eating habits of rats, and they only look at their former friends and neighbors as a source of food. Clutch, a retired boxer, nervously awaits the homecoming of his soldier daughter, Casey, recently back from a tour of duty in Iraq, but first he has to protect the other tenants as the rat-zombies are quickly infesting the entire neighborhood.
Initially emergency services and city authorities attempt to contain the spread by shutting down public transportation, and closing roads, but soon hospitals are inundated with the wounded, and the virus begins to spread island wide. By the time Clutch and the rest of the film's characters realize the severity of the situation, the infected have overrun much of the city and the streets are highly dangerous, with police seemingly overwhelmed and unable to respond. The survivors barricade themselves in their apartments as the news of the outbreak and subsequent quarantine of Manhattan breaks on TV and radio, waiting on promised rescue from the military, which the government promises will begin to restore order in Manhattan soon.
Jim Mickle and Nick Damici met while working on a student thesis film. They came up with the idea of a back-to-basicszombie film calledDead of Night, but the estimated budget was too high for them. Tim House, who played the super, offered to put up $10,000, and the concept and style were reworked to fit around that budget. Eventually, the film grew from there and morphed into something less traditional. Many of the characters were based on people they knew from the real apartment building, and the actors were made up of friends and family. The film was shot in three and a half weeks.[2]
Damici and Mickle had to fight to keep the title, as their representatives wanted to title it something more evocative of the current horror boom. Damici and Mickle, however, wanted to emphasize the theme ofgentrification.[2]
Mulberry Street premiered at theStockholm International Film Festival on November 16, 2006.[1] It got a theatrical release throughAfter Dark Films on November 9, 2007.[3] It was included in theAfter Dark Horrorfest 2007 DVD box set, released on March 18, 2008.[4]
Rotten Tomatoes, areview aggregator, reports that 70% of ten surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 6.9/10.[5] Jay Weissberg ofVariety called it "a cut above most zero-budget horrors" that may become acult film.[6]Bloody Disgusting rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "The concept is solid but the execution is rife with problems."[7] Joshua Siebalt ofDread Central rated it 4/5 stars and recommended it to people who want "a tense and terrifying claustrophobic heart attack".[8] Jeremy Knox ofFilm Threat rated it 4.5/5 stars and wrote, "Off the top of my head, I can’t really think of another recent example of filmmaking in its purest form that topsMulberry Street."[9] Scott Collura ofIGN wrote that film rises above its limitations by its expertly realized characters and subtle themes.[10] Steve Biodrowski ofCinefantastique called it "half-brilliant and half-okay", criticizing the film's lighting and cinematography.[11] Ian Jane ofDVD Talk rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Mulberry St. was a surprisingly engaging horror film. It moves at a great pace, it features some very strong performances, and while it might borrow from a few other films a little too much, at least it does so well."[12] Paul Pritchard ofDVD Verdict called it "a surprisingly effective little shocker that, though far from perfect, is never dull and well worth 84 minutes of anybody's time."[13]