GORILLANAUT

MULBERRY STREET

While it's essentially a guys trapped in a house while zombies attack movie, MULBERRY STREET uses character and setting to it's very low budget advantage. Co-writer and star Nick Domici is Clutch, a retired boxer who lives in a well worn tenement building with a collection of people who seem to be pretty tight. There's his close friend Coco, a single mom and teenage son, a pair of old timers, a disabled guy and some others. Clutch's daughter Casey is an Iraq war vet who is on her way home to her father's apartment. Nobody has it easy as the place has been bought by the most loathsome of vermin, the yuppie. Director Jim Mickle and Domici do a good job of laying out the characters and their problems before the zombie action happens so that when people start dying there is an impact.

The source of the zombies this time is a virus transmitted by rats. Those bit are not exactly zombies, they are not dead but infected. They do however come to resemble rat-faced human monsters and are cannibalistic. They also tend to look a lot like D.J. Qualls. The plague is spread throughout Manhattan and worsens quickly as the island is shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. The story cuts between Clutch as he tries to help those in the building and Casey as she tries to get home. Not having any money, Mickle resorts to using television and radio reports to convey information on the spread of the virus beyond the tenement. The monsters attacks are fairly ferocious but nothing really new except for maybe the weird rat transformation. There is no real transformation scene, just quick slightly pointy ears and rat teeth. Outside of the obvious rat metaphors, I'm not sure what the reason for the rat face aspect is except maybe as a way to be a little different than something like 28 DAYS LATER, which is most likely going to be the film it is compared to.

Mickle gets the best out of his actors and both Domici and Kim Blair (Casey) deliver their various fight scenes well. People get hit with pots and pans but there are no gun scenes which is a bit different for a flick like this. There's also a lack of the tremendously annoying dumb-ass teenagers that seem to be in these movies. As it takes place in one day, it moves fast and doesn't really let up after the shit hits the fan, however less patient viewers may be annoyed at the buildup to the action. The ending is open to interpretation but it ain't happy no matter how you slice it. While the basic premise may not be that original, the film is a perfect example of writing to your budget and knowing what is possible with what you have. But if you want more Ratman terror hang on, I think I have something in the garage...