Reviewed by Jennifer Kontax

If the opening scene of a movie sets the tone of what is to come, then it is fitting that Mulberry Street begins at its high point: following rats traversing the underground of New York City street sewers.  Fear, repulsion and fascination become the focus of the film as they threaten to take over the city in a unique way.  The movie centers on forgotten residents who have just been evicted from their dilapidated apartment complex.  Initially, the identity of each is revealed and in some way the movie tries (without success) to connect their pathetic lives with the audience. Chaos begins to unfold in New York City after a rather humorous scene of the tenants’ superintendent being bit by a 'vicious' rat.  Several reports of rat attacks in the subway tunnels and around the city are broadcast on the news, but it isn't until a rather bloody scene in a local bar when the audience is made aware of the severity of the situation. 

What starts out as a drunken sex scene in a bar's bathroom, ends in a fierce ‘rat-person’ attack.  As more infected 'rat-people' emerge, they begin preying on the clean.  Panic begins to spread as these infected New Yorkers possessing rat like traits run rampant around the city, biting and infecting others or amusingly just feasting on them.  Upon learning of the strange news, the main residents attempt to save each other in their crumbling building.  Amidst all the cheaply made gore and violence is a weak and sappy plot of a returning soldier who is seemingly harshly affected by the war she just escaped.  The coincidental chaos-infused reunion of father and veteran daughter is the epitome of triteness.  The duo must then team up and fight off the rat-people that have not only invaded the city but have begun to break through the walls of the apartment building.  Soon, the single place that was deemed safe sheds its protection as the infected humans begin to infiltrate throughout much like rats would.  You quickly begin to wonder if there'll ever be a resolution.

Mulberry Street is one of those bad horror films in which the only satisfaction you get is from finding the outrageous humor of it all.  They tried too hard to reinvent the zombie film by changing it slightly to involve a rat infestation.  At various times throughout the movie I felt like I was watching a cheap video game, where the main character was on a quest to gain more points by knocking out as many rat infested zombies as possible.  The scene where Clutch, the father, prepares to battle the unknown simply with his fists was ridiculous.  The lack of guns in the film echoed the low budget, and the choice of weapons (baseball bats, cooking pans, and camera flashes) only helped to reveal this.  The stale puns fueled the cheesiness of the plot.  It failed to provide any suspenseful moments as it followed a very predictable path.  Even the costuming and effects flopped.  Honestly, I got more spooked from my community's own rinky-dink production of Night of the Living Dead.

Extras

The special features include a look at some of the film's original storyboards and early sketches.  There's a humorous outtake reel and deleted scene.  The makeup test feature offers an interesting inside view at the makeup used to create the rat-people.  The Miss Horrorfest Contest offers only what trashy reality shows can deliver, so if you're a fan like I am, you'll find a few laughs here.