Organ Trail

Cinematography is great. Organ Trail (2023) captures a gritty and realistic antipastoral west. The first few minutes of the film are great, even the bloody and graphic violence is not off-putting. However, just as one grows to like the characters they are killed off. From this point on, the film stalls out. There are a lot of scenes with travelling and a stationary scene in a western ghost town. However, the language detracts from the film, as there is not a lot of interesting dialogue. Attempts at comedic relief are made about an hour into the film where four-letter profanities are passed off as humorous. As the film equivalent of a walking simulator, the film has great scenery. Its a bit slow paced but contains well received visuals. The film contains false endings and over the top action near the climax that detracts from the film. Most of the characters are flat and un-interesting, leaving little to grasp on to aside from cinematography and visuals. Well shot cinematography makes the film.

Why in the world would you have a fairly well known actor like Sam Trammell try to pull off an Irish accent? Good lort. It was a continual mixture of a flat American dialect, a American Southern Drawl, and a VERY BADLY DONE fake Irish accent. For the love of Pete it did nothing for the plot of the film, as all the men were to have been just recently released from their regiments in the American Civil War. So any American accent would do.

Otherwise, as a thriller or a gritty frightening western. That in itself was done well. This group of men are just what outlaws would really would have been. Old Westerns cleaned them up so much, making them have things they "wouldnt do". But TRUE horrible psychopaths and sociopaths have no invisible line that they won't cross. And that would include taking over a whole town and killing everyone in it. Or killing whole families on the Oregon Trail, pillaging their wagons, stealing the horses, and SA'ing the women. While so many stories through history tell you that wagoners on the Oregon Trail had to fear the Native American Tribes on their trek. Not much was said about our own citizenry doing much worse (and if you saw those hand made arrows, try to pin it on the Native American Tribes).

If you want something a little bit different and gritty to watch...this is a 7/10...has a little bit of "girl power" but it's not so in your face you'd be offended.

But my lort Sam Trammell. Never pretend to have an Irish accent ever again.

For most of its running time Organ Trail is a relatively grounded Western/thriller with some interesting moments and solid cinematography. There is a certain grittiness to the events - when faced with dangers, characters don't perform heroics but often panic and die abruptly or at least take a physical toll from their big or small mistakes.

Then, in the last act, Organ Trail turns into the pulpy horror movie which was suggested by its title, with a ridiculous invincibile cartoon villain shrugging off an absurd amount of damage.

Now, I have nothing against ridiculous invincible cartoon villains - in the appropriate venue. After the low-key first and middle act, this is just tonally off. It's like watching All Quiet on the Western Front and then suddenly one character starts performing Commando-like shenanigans.

6/10.

I thought this was a western horror. It turned out to be a poorly directed thriller drama with villains and protagonists that are comically super human-although it wasn't funny. Just annoying. The director apparently doesn't care a bit about reality. This is stuff from 80s slasher films in which bullets in the heart don't stop some people but a bullet from the sky kills someone else. Dumb, idiotic and a waste of time. It is not a horror movie. It's a brain numbing sophomoric movie with misleading trailers and miscategorized as a horror. Sadly, some of the acting was very good-hopefully the pay was good because it didn't help their reputations.

I recently viewed Organ Trail (2023) on Paramount+. The storyline follows a young lady in the 1800s Midwest with no family, friends, or means for survival but her family horse. When a ruthless band of outlaws steals her horse, leaving her for dead, she embarks on a perilous mission to recover it, putting herself and everyone who aids her at risk.

This picture is directed by Michael Patrick Jann, in his major motion picture debut, and stars Zoé De Grand Maison (Riverdale), Mather Zickel (I Love You, Man), Lisa LoCicero (Rush Hour 2) and Nicholas Logan (The Best of Enemies)

The movie is a mixed bag. The settings, attire, and props create a perfect look and feel. However, the storyline, dialogue, and acting struggle with authenticity, although Nicholas Logan's portrayal of the villain stands out, reminiscent of a young Michael Rooker. The kills are average and disappointing, but surprisingly, the ending surpassed my expectations.

In conclusion, Organ Trail is an uneven film with some redeeming elements preventing it from being a complete disaster. I would give it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.