The Toronto After Dark Film Festival kicked off with a huge bang with a screening of the incredible flesh-feasting rat-zombie masterpiece “Mulberry Street”. The film focuses on a group of New Yorkers living in a tenement building which is falling prey to the money-driven urban redevelopment that is devouring old neighbourhoods in NYC and other major metropolitan areas. The film takes its time introducing us to the colourful residents of the building including the main character, Clutch, a former boxer who is waiting for his daughter to come home after serving in Iraq which left her physically and emotionally scarred. Clutch is a sort of patriarch to a number of residents in the building including two elderly men, a single mother and her son, and his gay friend who has a strong connection with Clutch and his daughter.

Since this is a horror movie, the greedy developers aren’t the only creatures on a feeding frenzy. The building’s superintendent is bitten by a rat, and slowly deteriorates over the course of one hot summer day. As the day progresses, reports of rat attacks on the city’s subway system begin taking over every news channel. The people bitten by the rats fall ill, and begin attacking other people, and faster than you can say “Ratatouille” the rat disease spreads carnage and chaos throughout NYC. The City is quickly placed under quarantine, and those left inside must fend for themselves against an onslaught of rat-like zombies who chomp flesh like a wheel of cheese.

The film follows the residents of the building as they struggle to stay alive. When all hell breaks loose you quickly realize that no character is safe and the ‘rat-zombie all you can eat buffet’ builds and builds to an ending that will stay with you after the credits roll.

Over the last few years there has been no shortage of zombie films. Ever since the success of “28 Days Later” and the “Dawn of the Dead” re-imagining, filmmakers and studios have been attacking the genre like an undead ghoul on speed. While some of the recent zombie films have been forgettable, this film definitely delivers what zombie fans crave.

The film is well directed. Much of the movie was shot in lead actor/co-writer Nick Damici’s apartment, yet you do not feel that you are watching just another low-budget film. And while rat-zombies may sound a bit cheesy (I had to make a cheese reference) this is not some low-budget shlock-fest made for a quick buck. Director Jim Mickle is clearly passionate and astute when it comes to the horror genre, and the film looks and feels better than most movies made for ten times the budget.

The acting is solid, with an excellent performance by Damici, and the supporting cast is stellar, bringing something to their characters that make them extremely likable, which adds to the tension of the film. The setting is also well-suited for the film. The urban landscape adds a greater threat with a large population to become infected, while the tenement building creates an eerie claustrophobia that is extremely effective. Whether you are a casual zombie fan or a fanatic flesh-eating, brain-munching undead worshiper, this is a movie worth seeking out. A fantastic addition to the zombie genre!