By Mike Szymanski
Story
It's the near future and after a bunch of terrorist bombings and a few bad plagues, the populace is hanging on as best they can. A big conglomerate is about to buy up a bunch of property in Manhattan and a group of stragglers are left in a dilapidated apartment building on Mulberry Street. The apartment dwellers include: Clutch (
Nick Damici), who has some history with a gay guy named Coco (
Ron Brice). Together, they've raised a young girl soldier, Casey (Kim Blair), who has just returned fighting some war. Also living in the building are Frank (
Larry Medich), who is connected to an oxygen tank and his roommate, Charlie (
Larry Fleischman), who can't remember if they’ve lived there 52 or 53 years. Finally, there’s Kay (
Bo Corre) and her young son Ross (
Tim House), a family Clutch would like to be a part of but remains distant. It doesn’t matter. Soon they are all fighting for survival when people are quite literally turning into life-sized rats, biting and scratching as they go.
Acting
The alternative family dynamics are refreshingly out of the ordinary in this near-future world. Even though Clutch character is definitely heterosexual, there's some hesitation he has about his attraction toward Kay, and he's intensely connected to the flamboyant Coco.
Damici, who also wrote the film, obviously wanted to show off his range as a rugged former boxer who also has a tender side. Old-timers
Medich and
Fleischman in their supporting roles are good comic relief in an otherwise bleak tale.
Direction
Director
Jim Mickle hands us a very dark and unforgiving future, drumming up the same kind of paranoia and fear which occurred after 9/11.
Mulberry Street is shot in claustrophobic surroundings, as our intrepid group runs to hide in meat lockers, closets and cars to escape the rat zombies. And their appearance is not as laughable as they may sound.