Among Us

From the moment I saw the DVD sleeve I didn't think I was going to like this movie at all. The screenshots on the back looked too cheesy for my liking. I then watched the making of Documentary and that made me think I would dislike the film even more, the directors/producers just seemed too goofy. So what I surprise I got when not only did I not dislike the film I really enjoyed it.

Among Us is about a filmmaker, Billy D'Amato (Bob Dennis), who has made his living out of a franchise of Bigfoot movies (Gladiator Bigfoot & Bigfoot House Party to name a few). He decides after a real Bigfoot sighting that he wants to make a documentary in search of the real Bigfoot so heads up to a remote cabin near where he and several other eyewitnesses claim to have sighted Bigfoot.

The premise is simple but the story is much more enjoyable. First we see two Bigfoot attacks with a Bigfoot more liken to a man in an ape suite, as it turns out these were scenes from the fictional D'Amato films. After this initial fool we go into documentary mode with direct to camera comments from D'Amato, a professor in the field of zoology Wayne (Jon McBride), and the cameraman Ray (John Polonia). Bearing in mind that the latter two were the ones from the documentary that I thought were too goofy I must point out that they were the two most enjoyable characters. Polonia's cameraman was played with deadpan humour worthy of Jack Dee and the goofyness of McBride that I found annoying in the documentary plays so well within the film. Don't get me wrong the acting is pretty dismal although Teen Angel regular Hunter Mackenzie Austin puts in a solid performance although it is above the films level so seems out of sorts with everything else.

The direct to camera addresses are inter-cut with scenes from some of these fictitious movies such as Bigfoot House Party and Space Cannibals (which has no place in this movie although is very funny) and a trailer for Gladiator Bigfoot. These scenes are the highlight of the film, they are extremely cheesy (which I don't usually like) but at the same time extremely witty.

As far as the production values and direction go the film is very flat and bland. Within said fictitious film scenes there is a definite film style but for the actual film there isn't. Because the film is part documentary and part fiction film it is at odds with itself and fails on both parts. It neither feels like a real documentary when it is trying to be nor does the fiction element have much style to it and the fodder that binds them and fills the gaps is mainly overlong shots of cars pulling up. But this is a low budget film and is bound to have flaws in it. The film overall is poorly made with bad lighting and sound recording (although the picture quality is ok, filmed mainly of miniDV) but the gems that made me enjoy it so much are the individual sketches and a mostly witty script (by John Oak Dalton).

Among Us makes many references to films both explicitly and implicitly with a big emphasis on the horror genre and even talks about 'the genre in which they are working' referring to the horror genre. But it is very difficult to class this film as a horror as there is only one scene at the very end of the movie that could be described as horror. This is basically a comedy. Now many horror films have a lot of comedic elements (Evil Dead, Re-Animator, Bad Taste, Versus) but they also have a lot of horror elements whereas Among Us simply doesn't. It plays comedy sketch after comedy sketch and then rounds the film off with a horror scene right at the end to finish the story. It is purely a film made because the filmmakers enjoy making films.

I wasn't aware of the Polonia Brothers before seeing this film but during my research I found they do have quite a devoted cult following and based on Among Us it isn't hard t see why, they are amateur filmmakers who love movies and love making them. Everything about this film indicates that they enjoyed making it, it comes through on screen and you cannot help but share that enjoyment. This is defiantly one to watch with a few beers and some mates, it isn't going to scare you (at all) and there are no FX for the gore hounds but it is very enjoyable and may make you want to seek out some of there other titles.

Extras:

There are 3 commentaries by the directors (Polonia brothers), the cast (Jon McBride and Hunter Austin via speakerphone) and writer (John Oak Dalton although he also brings a mate along to keep him company). The director's commentary is decent enough giving a little insight into low budget movie production. The actor's commentary is more two old friends reminiscing and generally chatting. The writer's commentary is actually the best, Dalton does know his stuff about writing and film production and offers a better insight into the film than the director's do.

The hour long Making of Documentary is 30 minutes too long and only really centres on two days of shooting in one location. The absence of pre or post-production is a real shame. It doesn't offer any real insight into filmmaking it plays more like a home movie.

The song by Jon McBride 'Bigfoot stole my six-pack' is a funny little song but the music video is dire. Looks like it was shot and put together all within a ten minute fag break.

Some production photos and notes on Sub Rosa Studios round it off. Not bad really, considering it is an independent film.

Review by Marc Woods