Mulberry Street - Infecção em Nova York

After having seen a few low budget zombie movies a while back, my love for the genre faded and nowadays knowing that a film is both low budget and a zombie movie is liable to put me off seeing it; the reason being that while these films often show great enthusiasm, they can be seriously lacking in creativity. Well you could of course argue that this is not a zombie film as the central monsters are strange rat creatures rather than the classic zombie monsters...but it's basically just the same difference, and arguing that this film is not a zombie film would be as futile as saying the 2002 zombie film '28 Days Later' is not a zombie film. Anyway, what we basically have here is just your average zombie outbreak idea and we focus on an apartment block on 'Mulberry Street'. It turns out that there's something funny going on with the rats under the apartment block and all hell breaks lose when a man is bitten and starts showing signs of...turning into a giant rat. The infection quickly spreads, leading to a fight for life for the survivors.

The film is very short at only eighty minutes and was obviously set on a limited budget; thus meaning that it doesn't have a great deal of scope and we basically just focus on the central characters. This makes for decent enough entertainment, but the film is lacking in several areas and a lot of it feels rather thin. We don't get any details about the actual virus; which isn't that disappointing when you consider the usual reasons behind a zombie outbreak (a virus, radiation from space etc), but since this film has dared to change the formula a little in having people turn into rats; it would be nice to have some sort of reasoning behind it. The film has plenty of action, gore and horror images; but the problem is how it's portrayed. Director Jim Mickle has unfortunately opted to go down the flashy MTv-style photography route, and the result is that it's very difficult to see what is going on, and this kind of kills the film in terms of entertainment value. However, Mulberry Street does at least have enough good points to make it a worthwhile viewing and zombie fans should find something to like.

This is a low budget movie. Now there are low-budget and low-budget. This is very well made out of "only" 60K (apparently) USD. If you can stand the idea of people turning into murderous rat-beings, then you would probably like this flick. It has a quite realistic feel to it, and the fact that everything is shot using a hand camera makes it quite documentary in style. The fact that a large part of the film follows the tenants of a NY building surrounded by these "rat-beings" makes it also quite claustrophobic. Good acting as well, all around - where the actors really build a relationship to each other and the audience.

A very well used 60K and if you like horror movies, the chance is that you'll not want to miss this one.

Life in the Big Apple is "as usual" on a day like any other day, when out of the sewers emerges a massive viral contagion...rats are aggressively attacking people who, in turn, become infected and undergo a grotesque metamorphosis. They become, quite literally, rodent-people, and as such scuttle in shadows, gnaw through walls, and greedily consume human flesh. Holed-up in a low-income apartment building are a variety of characters(all of them better written and portrayed than usual for a film of meager origins). They fight for their lives as radio and TV broadcasts denote the epic scale of this grim and rapidly mounting situation.

MULBERRY STREET is a great example of the way younger film industry hopefuls are taking old ideas and throwing them back at you as something entirely original...in truth, we've seen all this before, but the presentation is so different that it rarely feels like the same old 'sturm und drang'. It's surprisingly character-driven for a contemporary horror film, and the ending which seems rather unresolved actually makes sense as this is the story of the film's primary characters facing a situation, rather than being about the situation itself. Imaginative, creepy, and in a few spots even emotionally affecting, this is one which is likely to please horror hounds and might even recruit a few(it's also one of the most "New York" movies to pop up in quite awhile).

I enjoyed this film, and I suspect it will be a springboard for many of the talented members of the cast and crew...I, for one, will be eager to see what they can do with some legitimate financial resources.

7.5/10

In Manhattan, in a dilapidated building on Mulberry Street, the super Ross (Tim House) has trouble to repair the decayed systems to improve the lives of the tenants. The former boxer Clutch (Nick Damici) is a leader in the building and is anxiously waiting for the return of his beloved daughter Casey (Kim Blair) from a hospital for veterans after serving overseas. He prepares a surprising homecoming party for Casey with his gay neighbor Coco (Ron Brice). Clutch feels an attraction for her neighbor, the single mother and waitress Kay (Bo Corre), and her teenager son Otto (Javier Picayo) respects him like a father. Clutch is also close to Frank (Larry Medish), who is very sick, and his friend Charlie (Larry Fleischman). Meanwhile there is a rat attack in a subway station, followed by two others in different stations, and forcing the Major to showdown the public transport system. Sooner the victims bitten by rats turn into flesh eater mutants, attacking the other human beings and there is an outbreak that puts Manhattan in quarantine. The inhabitants have to fight to survive the attack of the ratlike creatures and Clutch gives his best effort trying to protect Casey and his friends.

"Mulberry Street" is an effective low-budget horror movie that really works. The characters are human, realistic and very well developed, creating an empathy with the viewer; the plot is simple but explains the origin of the outbreak; and the attack of the horde of mutants is gruesome and claustrophobic, recalling 1968 "Night of the Living Dead" and "REC". There is no final redemption in the non-commercial end, and for me it is another plus in this good film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Infecção em Nova York" ("Infection in New York")

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.