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.

My expectations were low. I am a huge lover of low budget films. However this was so wonky with its time frame and how historically things would have been done....its a joke. Not semi-realistic in any sense. What creates true fear is knowing it could have realistically happened. During that time period, your weapon meant everything. That means your most prized possession was your rifle. So people are going west with muzzle loaders when lever actions were all the rage as well as metallic cartridge revolver rounds? Obviously this director....nor does anyone else who has work on this know what the hell they are doing or talking about.

I really tried to like this movie because I like westerns, but this movie could have been about hikers, campers, or just people lost in the woods. Scenery and music does not "make" a movie, and although there is some decent scenery the aggravating score does nothing to help this clinker. The story seems to drag and would have made a good 20 minuter TV show, but not a full length movie. There were too many characters to develop in the time it took to drag this movie to a conclusion. A little more actual story and a lot less unnecessary shots of people walking back and forth in the distance might have made this a better movie. The bad guys just need to be bad guys, and not spend every scene proving how bad they are. This director should learn to tell a story, and not waste film. Sad... because this story had some potential but it got lost by actors trying to be evil Clint Eastwoods. There is a great deal of stupid and unnecessary dialogue that make this movie forgettable. A better title would have been Dragging Trail. Not one of my favorites by any means.

I went into this thinking it was going to be a horror flick.

But it can be more aptly described as a low budget western thriller.

There isn't really a main character in the film.

Rather, the plot centers around a string of incidents, through which three groups of people collide - a family of settlers travelling along the Oregon Trail; a gang of violent raiders, who prey on such travelers; and a couple of black homesteaders, who just so happen to have settled in the area.

The gang uses a woman they have captured as bait, to lure benevolent settlers to their death (by their hands).

After which they raid their wagons for goods and women.

The gang consists of a leader, a sociopath, a follower, and a good man trapped in a bad situation.

And, when they murder the family we are introduced to, they end up taking their daughter prisoner.

However, she ends up escaping.

After which she is taken in by the black couple.

Only to steal their horse, so as to return to the scene of the crime, so that she can bury her family.

Not knowing the gang has sent their woman to track her; while the sociopath tracks her (because she is taking too long)- just as the black homesteader sets out to get his beloved horse back.

Inevitably leading their paths to cross...in what will turn out to be an incredibly violent turn of events.

The acting is actually quite decent across the board.

And the scenery is quite stunning.

Unfortunately, the plot relies on some extremely implausible events to drive itself forward.

With a couple instances of really poor CGI effects.

On top of that...the climax is rather underwhelming...culminating with an all too abrupt ending.

Which doesn't leave you satisfied.

But it's not a bad little film.

And is entirely watchable.

With some effectively disturbing moments.

Even if it doesn't quite live up to other films based on extreme ultraviolence.

I don't really get the title, though.

Because it never has anything to do with organs.

4 out of 10.

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.