Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted September 22, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 22, 2012 I'd been curious to see Tsui Hark's second movie as a director for a long time, and after finding a copy in the local China Town I finally had a chance to check it out last night. As a movie it's hard to describe, which seems to be the case of everyone else who's seen it as well. Not an all out kung-fu movie, not an all out horror movie, definitely not an all out comedy, yet it contains all three elements in some form or another. It's truly a movie which has one step in the future and one step in the past, a lot of Hark's quirky and unique traits are already in place - from the main character simply being referred to as 'Agent 999', to an excellent musical score which ranges from traditional Chinese music, to wild tribal chants, to psychadelic assaults on the ears...the music is a great contributing factor to the feel of things. On the other hand, a look at the key players list makes this look like a really old school affair. Prodcued by none other than Ng See Yuen and partly choreographed by Corey Yuen, with a cast consisting of Norman Chu, Eddie Ko, & Melvin Wong. People could be forgiven for thinking they were in for a classic kung-fu affair. For those that haven't seen it, the chain smoking, trilby hat wearing Agent 999 (Norman Chu) is sent to a remote island to try to find a wanted criminal called Rolex (Melvin Wong). Little does he know that the island has become a law unto itself, lead by a slightly unhinged military jacket wearing dictator like figure (Eddie Ko) who has helped the whole population develop a taste for human flesh. Essentially any stranger who stumbles across them is seen as the next meal, as fresh meat seems to be in short supply, and this is achieved through groups of mask wearing, meat cleaver wielding hunters tracking and killing the victims. The islanders themselves are a who's who of weird looking Hong Kong actors at the time, with the towering Siu Gam putting in a particularly disturbing turn as the homosexual transvestite determined to get anyone she/he comes across out of their clothes. While it sounds comical, the scenes are actually quite unsettling! Of course, there is kung-fu, with Norman Chu being front and center of some great one versus many scenes, all involving him and hordes of the murderous butchers with their meat cleavers and masks, which gives the scenes that extra element of impact. The gore is also there as well, although not really in your face by today standards, there's a fair few fight scenes which end with a meat cleaver in the head...and some gruesome scenes in the slaughter house, but nothing too shocking. All in all I really enjoyed 'We're Going to Eat You', it's a mish mash of genres which makes it difficult to classify, but it's an enjoyable ride with a few surprises along the way. I'm wondering what everyone else's opinion of this movie on here is? oMHF3Di0D2M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted September 22, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 22, 2012 I haven't seen this movie in about 15+ years. I have both the VHS & DVD somewhere (one of the few VHS I kept, don't remember why)....I may have to dig it out & give it a re-watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member peringaten Posted September 22, 2012 Member Share Posted September 22, 2012 One of my favourites this. Love the choreo - got old school flavour with a new school filmmaking vibe. When Norman rolls a cigarettte on that dude's face mid-fight... too classic. I like the characters, deep yet not detailed, just enough touched on to let the imagination work - the fact Eddie Ko's character in one scene is shown crying over a copy of Oedipus - what other classic kung films give you stuff like that! Funky touch. Next minute ripping around with a Kwan Dao... I loved the Sai Gwa Paau joke about Wong Fei Hung. Knowing, classic, forward looking, genre-mashing, funny, etc... Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member 66 Mantis Posted September 22, 2012 Member Share Posted September 22, 2012 I always preferred Tsui's earliest 'Angry" films over most of his later output. Of his first three though, this one's probably my least favorite. I liked it, but not as much as 'Buttefly Murders' and don't think it holds a candle to 'Dangerous Encounters'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bdc Posted September 23, 2012 Member Share Posted September 23, 2012 Like it,remember only having a vcd copy/vcd (framing cuts off the subs at times and it's censored)...then finally upgrading to the uncut remastered dvd after all those years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted September 23, 2012 Member Share Posted September 23, 2012 This is actually one of the inspirations for an upcoming Grindhouse-style trailer I'm planning on working on soon that will smash Chinese martial arts films with Italian zombie films... been a few years since watching it last, so I'll definitely have to give it another go! Also, while I have yet to see Suspiria myself, apparently the music that plays multiple times in the trailer is a music cue from that film by Goblin called "Witch". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I always preferred Tsui's earliest 'Angry" films over most of his later output. Of his first three though, this one's probably my least favorite. I liked it, but not as much as 'Buttefly Murders' and don't think it holds a candle to 'Dangerous Encounters'. I prefer his second period: 1982-1992 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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