quietearth [Film Festival 10.20.07] news



First I have to say I was wrong, this was definitely not post apocalyptic, but it was apocalyptic (heavy on the a baby) and good as expected. The trailer really doesn't show anything about the movie, so you're basically guessing. I will say that it wasn't at all what I expected, from the moment that Adam Lopez the festival director said this movie had an "emotional core" to it, I knew this wasn't going to be a typical horror/apocalyptic/zombie rat film, hahahaha. It's filmed with what could be an off the shelf camcorder, and at first this was really annoying, but by the end of the film it really lends itself to the reality of the entire situation.

It starts off in the morning with Clutch fishing (man I lived in New York and I tell you I wouldn't fish anywhere off Manhattan), he packs up his gear and runs home which is an apartment building on Mulberry Street, hence the name. For those who are unfamiliar with New York, Mulberry Street is part of Little Italy. He goes through his normal day interacting with others in the building which has been bought out by some big corporation and everyones rent will be "reassessed" eg. they are all getting evicted. We meet others in the building, including his gay black friend, the super, etc.. Now running along with this daily routine which is basically character building, we see reports of a virus, and at first it's barely a mention, but by nighttime the subway has been shut down in Manhattan and chaos reigns. Clutch's daughter is coming home from a VA hospital during all this and ends up riding a bike and stealing a pickup to finally make it!


Enough of the story, I know you want to know about the gore. The virus devolves humans into "rat" people and it seems the longer the time they've been infected the more they actually resemble a rat. They eat people, and I'm not sure, but they might also be zombie rats. This is ambiguous in the film. This definitely was not a gorefest, it was a character driven storyline, but it was great, and there is a bit of gore and it's very well done, but it's not a cheap zombie flick. The acting was also superb. I would have to say this gets a 7 out of 10.

Jim Mickle the director/co-writer came up from New york with Nick Damici (writer) as well as a couple of other guys from the movie. Nick also starred as Clutch in the film. Jim spoke before the movie and was pretty stoked about it playing and being in Toronto. I guess customs didn't hit his wallet for 2 bills, lucky. They did a Q&A after the movie and they told us that this was originally planned to be a zombie film set in Pennsylvania in the winter, but they kept looking for a twist, and ended up going with the rats because "it seemed more like New York". I'd say so, man go into Central Park after dark and you can hear them, they could probably strip a baby to the bone in seconds.

Good news, Mulberry Street was acquire by Lions Gate and hits theaters November 9th. I would assume it's a limited theatrical release, and no word on the dvd. Regardless, it's a must see!

Oh and for their next project they have optioned Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale who is famous for Bubba Ho-Tep among many others. It's categorized as a thriller/western! Sweet.

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