Like George Romero, Mark and John Polonia have been making low budget horror films in Pennsylvania for years but there most of the similarities end. For example, while the Polonias are twin brothers, Romero is not. And while Romero has made classics like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and MARTIN, the Polonias are best known for notorious direct-to-video features like FEEDERS and HOLLA! IF I KILL YOU.

AMONG US is the Polonias' seventeenth feature, and in many ways, it's a departure from their other films (their eighteenth, PETER ROTTENTAIL, is already available). This is mainly due to the fact that this is their first experience using someone else's screenplay. While the Polonias usually revel in juvenilia, with plots that don't stray too far from slasher clichés, screenwriter John Oak Dalton provides them with a great deal of character development, which gives this production added dimension. The original intention for the project was to make a tribute to cheesy 1970s sasquatch movies. That decade provided us with a whole cartload of bad horror and schlockumentary features centered around the cryptozoology craze like LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK and CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE, and there's been a recent resurgence of interest among horror fans in these pictures. Mark, John, and their partner Jon McBride planned to make a bloody/funny stalk and slash Bigfoot movie, but Daton surprised them with a semi-mockumentary script about a filmmaker who has made a fortune exploiting eyewitness accounts of sasquatch encounters to make dreck with titles like BRIDE OF BIGFOOT and BIGFOOT HOUSE PARTY, after which he kept his career afloat with adults-only pictures. The first half of the movie is full of humorous "movie within movie" and hokey documentary-style footage illustrating the career of Billy D'Amato (Bob Dennis).

But after having a close encounter of his own, Billy has a change of heart. He seeks out those he's screwed over in the past to make amends and invite them on an expedition to make a serious Bigfoot documentary for a change. Nerdy scientist Wayne Beaubier (co-director Jon McBride) and ex-girlfriend/witness Jennifer Dempsey (Hunter Austin) both have reason to mistrust Billy for his past misdeeds, but after much soul-searching dialogue and introspective interviews, they agree to accompany him to see if this time his intentions are genuine. Once they arrive at a cabin deep in the woods, evidence of Bigfoot nearby appears, but the documentary crew soon finds that the sasquatch tribe has become much more aggressive in their objection to D'Amato's exploitation, and plan to teach him a lesson.

It's no masterpiece, and the tone veers alarmingly between straight drama and goofy farce, but AMONG US has a surprising degree of resonance. Some viewers may find the mix of documentary film techniques (not to mention Jennifer's knit cap) as too reminiscent of BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, but all involved insist the similarities are unintentional, and that they were aiming more for a spoof of Sun Classics mondo documentaries. Still, though it's been overused, the whole technique of using handheld camera footage to depict our heroes under siege by Creatures Unknown is effective, and the climactic attack sequence carries some actual frights. Unfortunately, much of what leads up to it gets bogged down in various kinds of indulgence, from monologues that run on too long to amateur magic acts that run on way too long. But while it's not a home run, it's nice to see a Polonia movie in which viewers can take pleasure in other than the guilty kind.

The zero-budget filmmakers that provide much of the fresh product available on labels like Sub Rosa are enthusiastic about providing supplemental material, leading to an embarrassment of riches on DVDs like this one. AMONG US, which boasts some clever menu designs emulating websites, comes with three full commentraks. The Polonias, who sound exactly alike, sit in for one, whining about shooting conditions while expressing pride at being able to turn around a decent movie with good actors for no money in two months time. On a second, Jon McBride is joined by longtime friend/costar Hunter Austin, a busy character and voice actress in Hollywood, via speaker phone. They give us a bit too much "actor talk", but their friendship and enthusiasm for their craft seems genuine. The third commentrak finds writer Dalton talking about his approach to the project and how it felt to hear his dialogue spoken by real actors for the first time. A pal sits in with Dalton whose function seems to be to express regret that there isn't any gore or nudity. As if this isn't enough, "Behind the Fur & Fangs" is a full hour of Making-Of documentary on the project. Those not actually involved in the making of the film or their immediate families are welcome to skip sitting through behind-the-scenes footage of the crew eating lunch, but there's also a glimpse into the Polonia tag team filmmaking style.

McBride also contributes a song called "Bigfoot Stole My Sixpack" that plays over the (mostly fake) end credits, and appears in a special music video rendition.