Mulberry St.

Jim Mickle | 2006 | 85 min. | USA

A commentary on how the poor are treated when in need of help, Mulberry St. takes place in a poor NY borough that is infested/infected by rats which turn their victims into rat people. Quarantined by the powers that be, but sent no help, its residents are forced to fend for themselves. A perfectly good horror film setup, however... The film's characters are laughable, and were clearly written as showcases for everyone in the cast.

If you're going to make a rat-zombie film, one should make it so that it sinks its teeth into the audience's throat, not so that its cast of unknowns can sink their teeth into indie film stereotypes. The script was written by lead actor, Nick Damici along with its director, Jim Mickle, by the way.

The cast of characters:
A retired boxer
His troubled young daughter
An attractive single mother/bartender at the local pub
Her teenage son
A gay black man
Two quirky old men
Rats (but not enough of them)

If that doesn't seem so bad to you, maybe you'll enjoy the movie. It's not poorly made, but its characters are a true mess.

Though I didn't like the movie, I have to say that it was shot on a 4 figure budget. Considering that, it's a wonderful achievement in low budget filmmaking. The bulk of the movie takes place in one apartment building, and each room is the same room redecorated. Not once did I think that was the case, so the biggest of kudos go to the fim's production designer, Beth Mickle.