Mikes Film Talk

Organ Trail (2023) feels a cross between terminator of the old west and Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. It is set in the old west and is based on a screenplay by Meg Turner. Rather interestingly, Rotten Tomatoes dot com gives it null point. Audience scores are a tad more optimistic: The bums in seats crowd give Organ Trail a whopping 39%.

Let’s see why.

The Story

A family, father, mother, son and daughter get trapped at too high an elevation to survive winter. They head to the valley below to beat the snow. Sadly, they bump into the dead residents of a wagon train. Slaughtered by some unknown entity.

One woman is still alive. Cassidy (Texas actor Olivia Grace Applegate) is helped by the family who repay this act of kindness with their lives. After the family are murdered only Abby (Zoé De Grand Maison) is alive. Abby and Cassidy try to escape.

The Long Aside

Now before I get into the nitty gritty of Organ Trail, let me go off on a long aside. During the entire movie, I kept thinking that Abby AKA Zoé looked hauntingly familiar. After performing my due diligence, I could not figure out where I had seen this young lady before.

Her very face haunted me. I knew without a doubt that this young lady had graced my screen before. But no. I had seen nothing else she had worked on.

Then.

I spied my read list and found an old The Mick episode had been viewed. A light bulb went off over my head and I searched for the IMDb listing for the show. Lo and behold, I found out why the actress looked so familiar.

Look at the actor on the far left, as you face the screen. These two could be twins, or at the very least brother and sister. After looking high and low, I could find no connection between the two. Barbusca and De Grand Maison are not, according to the internet, related.

75% of the Movie

For at least 75 % of the movie I had this sense of Deja Vu. Where had I seen this face before? Of course after I found the answer, I had to rewatch Organ Trail without the distraction I previously encountered.

It did not help.

As Horror Films Go

As western horror films go, and there have been a few, Organ Trail is not overly bad. There is, however, that tendency to colour all the character’s actions as if they were 21 century products and not pioneers in the Victorian Era.

Organ Trail works as a horror film on many levels. And while there is no Papa Jup to run things, Nicholas Logan as the murderous Rhys is pretty threatening. *Logan has been a busy lad. Dark Winds, The Last Stop in Yuma County, to name but two, have been graced by his disturbing presence.

Murder by the Numbers

Okay, so Organ Trail is not quite murder by the numbers, but is it close. Sure we cannot see every little plot twist, but we can see enough that it begins to become tiresome.

However.

The film does entertain. All the main players do well here. New Orleans son Sam Trammell, as the “Papa Jupiter” before Rhys takes over, is spot on as the alcoholic and blood thirsty gang leader. The performers who play the butchered family also convince.

It could be down to the director. Michael Patrick Jann runs with this modern sounding old west vehicle and manages to make it work. With the aid of Editor David Codron we can just convince ourselves that the old west really was like this. Murderers and cutthroats around every bend.

The Verdict and the Trailer

Organ Trail earns a solid 3 stars out of 5. It entertains and the actors all acquit themselves brilliantly. It is currently streaming on Paramount + and it can be rented/bought on Amazon Prime.

Check out the trailer and see what you think. Hit? Or Miss?