CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Scott LeBrun 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.

RevRonster Budgets don't make a movie but they can help… "Dead Weight" suffers a lot of the same pitfalls that a lot of low budget zombie films suffer from. The camera work and editing are pretty sketchy and some of the acting isn't the best. However, the acting is clearly a lot better than hundreds of other low budget movies I've seen in my life. Additionally, the film is a pretty neat experiment in the outbreak genre because it decides to not show the infected for most of the film and leaves them to be a demon in your imagination. However, they are revealed at the end and…they are very underwhelming.However, the ultimate killer in this film for me was the complete lack of urgency in the story. The story revolves around a character who, through this outbreak, is trying to get to his girlfriend and meet in Wausau, Wisconsin. For most of the beginning of the film, I never really got the feeling that he was that committed to this course of action and then *BAM* he suddenly is super determined to get to her and will kill anyone who gets in his way. It was a drastic change in tone and really hurt me from getting into the film."Dead Weight" definitely held some potential and was a neat experiment. Sadly, the experiment didn't completely succeed with me and only proved to be a "One and Done" type of film for me.

seans_life I am upset I paid to see this even if it was a cheap rental but let me say that after Charlie kills the harmless old people the group meets along the way because he finds out that they are not going to his planned destination and will tell the others not to go where he wants them to go well from this point on this movie shows it had the possibilities of being a decent film. I guess with a bigger budget, better actors and actresses and some tweaking of the script well maybe just maybe this could have been a good movie. With all that said pick it up as an extra free rental you sometimes get at movie rental places but really I say download it. The ending was decent. The last 30 minutes of the film are worth watching which is 33% of the film so I will be generous and give this film a 3/10.

frank witting I recently saw this film on Wisconsin Public Television's "Directors' Cut" program, preceded by a Q & A with the filmmakers. "Dead Weight" is a romance film, interwoven with a post-apocalyptic suspense film, shot in a relatively short period of time, for a very modest budget.It follows a survivor, Charlie, as he makes his way to Wausau WI, where he hopes to meet up with his girlfriend Samantha. Along the way, the narrative cuts between his surviving in the present, and flashbacks to his relationship with Samantha.A note before my review: When I consider a film's quality, I do not grade low-budget indie films with more leniency than large studio films. The tools of filmmaking have advanced to the point where professional quality can be achieved on an indie level. Indie films do not have to hold themselves accountable to "least objectionable programing" standards and therefore can be more intellectually or thematically daring in their storytelling, and therefor have an advantage over big-budget films.Review: "Dead Weight" is a film that left me saying: "almost".There are sublime moments in this film - moments where Acting, Writing, and Cinematography come together with beautiful results. That the filmmakers were able to do this on such a short film shoot and low budget is a testament to them.However... for every one of these moments, there was a moment where quality in cinematography, acting, and writing was lacking, unfortunately to the point where it took me out of the story.Additionally, much of the character development and important plot points either felt very forced, or the tension that should have been present was non-existent. Much of this forced narrative is in regards Charlie's decent into madness. When Charlie murders the friendly couple his group meets, he does so for the simple fact they say Wausau is overrun with dead. Is this double-murder unexpected? Yes. Is it also without any context, and thereby feels gratuitous and pointless? Again, yes.There are many such moments like this that will leave you puzzled, and not because you're looking for deeper meaning. When the group is raiding a farmhouse, they hear a noise from upstairs and because of the unknown danger, they decide to leave. So what do they do? Casually stroll down the driveway, but not before having a rather vocal conversation outside in plain sight. Not something you should do if you think there might be armed homeowners who will kill anyone who's on their land. Or shortly thereafter, Charlie goes on a rant that the group is running low on water. Meanwhile, behind the group is a pond.It's these moments, and many others, that hamstring what could potentially be a very good movie. As I said, it has it's moments where it transcends its budget, and is absolutely beautiful. Some of the interactions between Charlie and Samantha are wonderfully well done. It's just a shame the filmmakers didn't give themselves more time and more money to realize their full creative potential, and do the script justice.