Director: Wych Kaosayananda
Writer: Steve Poirier (Screenplay) Wych Kaosayananda (Story)
Starring: Mark Dacascos, Julie Condra, Noelani Dacascos, Jeremy Stutes, Adam Zachary Smith
Plot: In a zombie apocalypse, one man desperately tries to keep his family alive.
Tagline – He fought the Baba Yaga. Now, he is fighting the undead.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Driver starts as we meet The Driver (Dacascos) a husband and father living in a small community during a zombie apocalypse, he goes on the trips to retrieve supplies or get rid of problems within the community, he wants to take his wife Sharon (Condra) and daughter Bree (Dacascos) away from this community, with information from the only two people he trusts Lee (Ruedpokanon) and DJ (New).
When the community comes under attack, The Driver is left with no option but to take his family and flee into the zombie infested world, a place where he will do anything to keep them safe, in his search for a safe haven.
Thoughts on The Driver
Characters – The Driver was once a hitman in everyday life, now in a zombie apocalypse he does runs for supplies or to dispose of the problems the community is facing, he wants to take his family away and after the community is attacked, he is forced to flee with his daughter, needing to prepare her for the outside world, he knows he has a race against time to find a new shelter. Bree is the Driver’s daughter, she hasn’t been exposed to the outside world and she must deal with a big loss, while getting a crash course on how to survive the zombie infested world. This does put a lot of focus on the father daughter relationship, with any other characters we meet getting used for information more than anything else.
Performances – Mark Dacascos has always been an action we have seen in horror films, John Wick Chapter 3 might well have elevated him into the mainstream at long last and here he proved why he has been in the action genre for so long, bringing to life the father that will do anything in a zombie infested world, having his own real life daughter Noelani Dacascos playing his on screen daughter adds to both of their natural dynamic throughout the film.
Story – The story here follows a father that must find a new shelter for his daughter in a world filled with zombies after his current home comes under attack. This is a story that does keep everything simple, it focuses on the father daughter relationship to hold the story together, while the calm reality needing to get every message through, while in a world where zombies could be around every corner. It might not get to the deepest levels, and there is plenty more we could have learnt about the community at the start, but the point of the story is a crash course in prepare someone to this new world.
Action/Horror – The action in the film is everything you would expect from a zombie movie, we have fast moving zombies being gunned down, with the attack on the community being the most standout moment in the film. The horror is all about the idea being in a zombie filled world, it doesn’t feel as dread covered as it should be for the situation though.
Settings – The film uses the community, with the open roads to show us how empty the world is, we never go near big cities, which would be key to surviving this world.
Scene of the Movie – Community attack.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain things Bree does, don’t fit the world.
Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining zombie movie that does focus a lot more on the relationship between the father and daughter in which the Dacascos family shine in showing us.
