Mulberry Street

2007, USA

Director: Jim Mickle

Writer: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle

Cast: Nick Damici, Kim Blair, Ron Brice

Producers: Adam Folk, Linda Moran

Distributor: Lions Gate

Web: www.mulberrystreetmovie.com

Running Time: 85 minutes

The combination of the Internet and the digital video revolution has been both a blessing and curse for cinephiles. On the plus side, filmmaking has become democratic, allowing everyone with a vision to make a movie, and present it to a potential audience of millions. On the other hand, democracy seems to attract the retarded. And I’m not talking about the last two presidential elections in the US, as easy as that joke would be. I’m referring to You Tube, which, aside from featuring the annoying SNL skit of the week, is host to the most inane short videos you could imagine. As we speak, at least ten thousand 14-year-old tarts are uploading videos of themselves dancing and lip synching to Rihanna’s Umbrella. The song is ridiculous enough to begin with, but when coupled with frantic grinding and air-humping, it takes on an imbecilic life of its own.

Point being, there’s way too many digital video features out there. And most of them suck, because it’s just some guy, a stupid idea, and a bunch of his friends. An exception would be anything made in New York City, like Mulberry Street. The city is full of so many great actors, that even no-budget nonsense is stocked with fine performances. So, the low budget of Mulberry Street doesn’t really harm the heart of the film. The entire cast pulls off this somewhat silly story of New York invested by a zombie rat plague to a degree the story normally wouldn’t warrant. I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic films, but not for The Secret of Nimh, so I wasn’t that captivated by the script, though it has some nice twists and turns. However, the bloody special effects are enhanced by the dark cinematography, and director Jim Mickle bounces the film from character to character nicely, spreading his attention evenly and, shall we say, democratically.

Rating: 7 on 10

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