Dead Weight

I had the pleasure of being able to attend the premiere screening among a small intimate crowd at the Time Community Theater in Oshkosh, WI.

The movie, well, where to begin. I have nothing but love for this movie. It takes me back to when movies were not filled with huge amounts of special effects, but were great because of the story, because of the actors and their performances. This to me is what makes Dead Weight a great movie. It touches on many nerves, it hits you in the gut and in the head with it's thoughtful but truthful portrayal of a man who will do anything and everything to keep a promise to make it to his destination.

It's not a long movie, it actually feels much longer I believe because of the depth in which the story unfolds.

In the end, I was left wanting. Wanting to know more of the characters and the world that exists in Dead Weight. If you a Walking Dead fan, you know what I mean, it is as if, as soon as one episode is done, you are excited for more! Lastly, even though it only has been a couple of weeks since seeing it. I already want to see it again. Time to buy the DVD.

Cheap: 1. No subtitles; really poor audio level control; poor enunciation at times by actors. 2. Another cheap production by "Ruthless Pictures" and "Head Trauma Productions" - the names should give you a "heads up". 3. How's this for an imaginative start. Smelling a gallon of milk to see if it's sour then pouring it on some cereal (close up of cereal box included in the editing), then eating the cereal. That scene alone foretells the rest of the movie. 4. Really cheap props. The viral outbreak consists of some little red circles over a map of a few cities shown on the tele. Followed later in the movie by a dead person with fake blood. Other than that - nothing. 5. 90% of the movie consists of a several people sitting and talking; walking and talking. Location sets/scenes consist of a room and a couple of farms. A couple of other people appear - whoopee! End of movie.

This is fairly effective raw and stripped-down genre filmmaking. The people behind "Dead Weight" decide to focus on the human element, presumably not having the wherewithal to stage elaborate set pieces, or construct lots of makeup effects. It's likely not going to appeal to the majority of horror fans, due to this de-emphasis on action and gore. But the writers / directors, Adam Bartlett and John Pata, get excellent use out of some great rural Wisconsin locations, and the acting, while expectedly not that polished, is reasonably convincing.

The script moves between different points in time, often flashing back to happier moments from our two main characters' lives. Charlie Russell (Joe Belknap) is a young man who receives word from ex-girlfriend Samantha MacReady (Mary Lindberg) that all of a sudden an apocalyptic viral outbreak is under way. Charlie hooks up with a select few survivors, including Meredith (Michelle Courvais) and Thomas (Aaron Christensen), to make a trek through the Wisconsin woods to rendezvous with Samantha. (Supposedly, the woods are safer than the cities).

"Dead Weight" is a quiet film, no doubt about that, that may admittedly test the patience of viewers conditioned to quicker pacing, louder volume, and more action. But at its core it's an effective little mood piece with some impressive atmosphere and a resonant main theme of trust issues in times of crisis.

Belknap and Lindberg are likable in the lead roles, receiving fine support from their supporting players Christensen, Courvais, Sam Lenz (as Dustin), and Jess Ader (as Drew). Steve Herson as Harrison does a pretty engaging job of getting out what little exposition there is.

Travis Auclair handles the lighting duties and does a good job; Nicholas Elert similarly delivers the goods with his music score.

All in all, this is pretty good modern indie horror.

Seven out of 10.

I watched this with a little hesitation, because low budget indie movies can suck to the point of being painful. You don't need multimillion dollar budgets to make a good movie, but often a little money can make the difference between lame and pretty good. Luckily in this case it all comes together rather well. There's a few instances of wooden acting and the typical plot glitches, but overall the folks behind this movie did a wonderful job with what they had. While everyone did a pretty good job, the two female leads were superb. I hope to see them again, because they had the perfect "girl next door" looks and managed to come off so real that it made me feel like I knew them. Well done and I hope these guys get another chance to make a movie. Nice pacing, great scenery and an involving storyline made this worth a watch.

Very well-done movie with great acting. Less focus on zombies and more on the living. Pretty shocking scenes. Stripped down movie, seemed to be filmed in winter in Wisconsin. Nothing flashy, just raw humanity.