After Dark Horrorfest's DVD edition for MULBERRY ST.(2008).
© Lionsgate

Mania Grade: D+
Title: Mulberry St.
Rating: R
Starring: Nick Damici, Kim Blair, Ron Brice, Bo Corre
Written By: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Directed By: Jim Mickle
Distributor: Lionsgate
Original Year of Release: Theatrical (2007), DVD(2008)
Extras: Storyboards, deleted scenes, Outtakes, Visual FX Test, Makeup Tests, "Behind the Scenes: The Rats" featurette

Buy it now!

Related Links

0

MULBERRY ST.

Last year’s initial offerings of the After Dark Horrorfest films were surprisingly good. There were no classics in the group but neither were there any real duds either (Although The Hamiton’s came close). The films were consistently well made considering the budget constraints they were under. With that in mind, the anticipation for this year’s films was quite high. Unfortunately, things don’t get off to a very strong start with Mulberry St., a ridiculous creature feature that is about fifty years too late.

Most of the action takes place in a New York apartment building with a diverse group of tenants including former boxer Clutch, androgynous Coco, single mom Kay and her teenage son, and some assorted old coots. For reasons which are never explained and barely even touched on, rats in the subway begin attacking and biting people. We’re never shown these attacks, we hear about them only through TV and radio news reports and thus, it’s impossible to grasp just what kind of scale we are talking about. Is it dozens of rats? Hundreds? Thousands? This part of the city is locked down to try and contain the virus spread by the rats, a virus which turns the victim into, for lack of a better term, were-rats. 

Now if the virus had simply turned the people rabid and crazed with a taste for blood, it could have worked. But no, the virus actually turns them into human rats with pointy ears and noses, long sharp teeth, and whiskers. The make-up was so bad that the actors looked like rejects from the Broadway play of Cats.  It was unintentionally funny. There is no logic to the plot. What caused the rats to start attacking? What caused people bitten to turn into rats? And what was done to prevent further outbreaks? All of these questions are left unanswered. 

The rat-people converge on the neighborhood including the apartment building, crawling between the walls and ceilings to attack the residents who think they are safe behind closed doors. The performances weren’t terrible and you have to laud the actors for at least going along with the awful plot and giving it their best. Kim Blair manages to stand out as Clutch’s daughter Casey, a solider returning home from the Middle East just as the outbreak begins.

There’s nothing terrifying in Mulberry St., and there’s no suspense. The rat-people were unconvincing as a threat, and the story is filled with crater-like divots.

Extras

Mulberry St. does come with a number of extras should you really want to see them. 

“Behind the Scenes: The Rats” featurette is a piece about the making of the film.

There’s also short bits on the film’s make and FX, deleted scenes, and Outtakes.

Tim Janson and Robert Trate will be bringing all 8 Films to Die For to Mania. Please check the site everyday for continuing coverage of After Dark’s Horrorfest.