I saw this film a few weeks ago on the SciFi Channel, and must say it was a very welcome change of pace. It was an excellent movie, much better than anything that came before or after it. Naturally, SciFi isn't showing it again anytime soon (why show quality independent cinema when you can run 100 promos promising to show us the identity of the Final Cylon in its place, after all?) Filmmaker Jim Mickle goes back to the traditional cinematographer's bag of tools - ambiance, camera angles, cut-aways... he delivers a remarkably good movie from a low-budget production without the self-indulging self-parody of "Cloverfield" or its predecessor, "Blair Witch Project." The cast put in a good job - some surprisingly good acting, the surroundings are very well shot, and the script is taut, suspenseful, lacking in clichés or empty space. Mulberry Street's weakness is perhaps the writing of the voice-overs from the television news in the background... they're just a little hokey, maybe a tiny bit indebted to Ed Wood.
Overall, this is a corker of a movie. It's a thriller, full of little character studies when it's not forcing you off the edge of your seat. Along with Shane Carruth's "Primer," Jim Mickle's "Mulberry Street" is proof that independent cinema is alive and well in the United States, despite all that is done to force it into an early grave. When these gentlemen get their hands on the cinematic big guns, they will do greater things. Count on it.
Overall, this is a corker of a movie. It's a thriller, full of little character studies when it's not forcing you off the edge of your seat. Along with Shane Carruth's "Primer," Jim Mickle's "Mulberry Street" is proof that independent cinema is alive and well in the United States, despite all that is done to force it into an early grave. When these gentlemen get their hands on the cinematic big guns, they will do greater things. Count on it.