We’re Going To Eat You

		Year:	1980
		Genre:	Horror, Comedy
		Format:	DVD
		Running Time:	1H30
		Distributor:	Media Blaster
		Date reviewed:	01/09/2003
		Producer:	x
		Director:	Tsui Hark
		Cast: Norman Chu, Eddy Ko, Melvin Wong, Tai Bo, Fung Fung

Story: ‘Agent 999’ is sent to a rural Chinese village to arrest a bandit called ‘Rolex’, who sports a tattoo of a fist on his chest. Upon arriving, Agent 999 begins to suspect that something is wrong, and it soon transpires that cannibals, addicted to the flesh of strangers, populate the village. Agent 999 and an unlikely bunch of good guys decide that they must overthrow the evil Chief of the village and escape. Review: After making his first film, ‘The Butterfly Murders’, Tsui Hark decided to create a very different film, and the result was ‘We’re Going To Eat You’, a seriously demented and under-rated horror comedy. From the gory opening sequence through to the barmy finale, this gruesome comedy grabs your attention and doesn’t let go until it’s sucked every bit of barbeque sauce from your brain bone. It’s obvious that ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was an influence on Hark, who studied film making in America. The cinematography is filmed in a similarly raw style, and the cannibals attack in costume reminiscent of Leatherface (TTCM’s iconic killer), except for the fact that they are more numerous and nimble on their feet. Fans of dark British comedy ‘The League of Gentlemen’ will also spot some obvious influence that this film had on that series. ‘We’re Going To Eat You’ certainly challenges audience expectations. Starting off like a straight up hunter/hunted horror movie, it quickly switches from horrific dismemberment to slapstick comedy, and then straight into some entertaining (but not dazzling) martial arts courtesy of action choreographer Corey Yuen. Sadly, the comedy does dilute what could have been a much more tense atmosphere, but Hong Kong audiences seem to demand a little of everything in a film, and this at least means that the pace is kept frantic throughout. The cast is hardly a galaxy of stars, but Eddy Ko is a welcome addition, playing the village Chief. He isn’t the snarling evil maniac you would expect, but rather a cruel and scheming dictator. Spaz-faced veteran actor Fung Fung plays the priest, who acts as the village’s voice of reason, and even prays for the spirits of their prey. Norman Chu is cool as a cucumber as Agent 999, and even rolls a cigarette on the head of one of his assailants during battle. An unlikely stand-out character is a deeply ugly woman who uses rape to trap herself a husband. The character is played by a mountain of a man in drag, best described as an Asian transvestite version of Richard Kiel (‘Jaws’ from the James Bond films). Tai Bo even shows up as one of the grubby peasant villagers, who are portrayed as rather normal, considering their diet. Asian and horror movie fans alike should seek out this unique film and devour it. Considering how much fun it is, and the fame of the director, it seems bizarre that no distributors have picked it up for a decent DVD release. You’ll laugh, you’ll want to puke, and you may even want a second helping of this banquet of body parts

DVD Media Blaster [ NTSC, Region 1 ] :

At last, a R1 DVD edition of a fine kung-fu horror slapstick from back in the days when Tsui Hark was making good movies. The picture (anamorphic widescreen) is sharper and better than we had any right to expect from a movie this old, with only occasional scratches from its original film stock. Audio is in Cantonese, mono, and the subtitles are just fine. However, there are basically no real extras here. Even the menu for the 'extras' shamelessly steals Goblin's music from SUSPIRIA (!), which is just appropriate: a 'stills gallery' with only 3 (and I repeat: THREE) movie covers, one of which is actually the one used for this edition, plus some Tokyo Shock trailers. Perhaps the most valuable extra is the option of scene access, and that's all folks! It's a shame: with Tsui Hark alive and well they could've used him at least for an in-camera interview, if not for a full film commentary. What a missed opportunity! Still, the movie is very good and worth having, so this edition, such as it is, is the best in existence, so far.t for the director's cut, which this is not.

DVD Reviewed by Dejan Ognjanovic