There’s something satisfying about a classic ghost story in a film. Simple and straightforward. No frills or filler, no complicated setup or deeper intent besides being spooky. Alex Cherney’s The Mid-Night Driver takes an archetypical, almost Victorian style ghost and uses it to create a dreamy, eerie experience.
One night at a sleepover, Claire and her two friends decide to try a Bloody Mary-style urban legend ritual to summon The Midnight Driver, a mysterious figure who, when called upon, arrives to take the summoner on tasks to collect a series of objects the Driver requests, with failure to do so resulting in the summoner never being seen again. Their first attempt fails, but when Claire, desperate to see if the stories are true, tries later on her own, she finds herself behind the wheel with the Driver on an almost psychedelic journey through late night suburban Long Island, with each task becoming more and more horrific as the night continues.
From the seemingly humdrum setup Cherney strikes gold. He successfully crafts a film that actually feels like a movie you’d rent in the late 80s/early 90s based on the cover alone. There’s a bit too much nostalgia bait early (a strategically placed bottle of Crystal Pepsi felt forced and egregious) but otherwise the film nails it. It actually feels like a real movie you’d rent on a whim and more like what you’d imagine to be based on the cover. It’s dreamy not so much in a David Lynch way, but more in the way everything appears as you’re approaching dawn after a night of no sleep It captures the essence of teen years sleepovers, the post 2 AM lunacy, the drives to nowhere that feel like a fever dream. Cherney’s version of early 90’s suburban Long Island is hauntingly familiar, complete with dark country roads lit only by the headlights of the car stretching ominously off into the night. The whole film feels like a more subdued version of the boat ride from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, with a shrieking Gene Wilder replaced by an ominously silent Al Reno as the titular driver. Reno, speaking only in grunts and hisses, never does anything overly threatening but nonetheless comes off as wildly threatening, his feral gaze moving away from the road only to fix Claire with a manic stare.
The Mid-Night Driver might sound like a full length episode of Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, but it shouldn’t be written off as such. Using a classic premise as a springboard, the film uses it as a vehicle to travel into truly creepy territory. It’s an atmospheric and eerie exploration of a universal phenomenon when it comes to growing up; the compulsion to know if the monster is real or if the stories are true.
