Organ Trail the movie has nothing to do with the zombie game, was inspired by a typo
On hearing there’s a new horror western movie called Organ Trail, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was based on the Flash game that became a Steam game (opens in new tab) in which a station wagon full of survivors have to travel westward across the zombie-infested United States.
And before you “um actually” me, yes, I am aware that game was based on the educational game called The Oregon Trail, although it took until I watched our video (opens in new tab) about it to realize in certain American accents the two sound almost identical.
It was apparently the original Oregon Trail game that provided the nugget of inspiration that became this movie. As screenwriter Meg Turner explained on Twitter (opens in new tab), “I was looking for the original video game and forgot an e in Oregon. The script was essentially born out of the best typo I’ve ever made.”
Organ Trail the movie is set in Montana in 1870, and stars Zoé De Grand Maison (Riverdale, Orphan Black) as a young woman on the run from a gang of bandits in the midst of a harsh winter. Based on the Organ Trail trailer (opens in new tab), it seems like dysentery will be the least of her problems. Honestly, it looks a bit reminiscent of the excellent Guy Pearce/Robert Carlyle movie Ravenous from 1999.
Organ Trail also stars Olivia Grace Applegate (Love & Death), Clé Bennett (The Man in the High Castle), and Sam Trammell (True Blood). It’s in cinemas now, and will be streaming on Paramount+ from May 12. If it’s The Oregon Trail educational games you’re interested in, here’s our list of (almost) every version of The Oregon Trail ranked.
