Tsui Hark's second film, WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU is a gory, but wacky, fast-paced horror comedy that was no more successful at the box office than his classy wuxia pian, THE BUTTERFLY MURDERS (1979). Thanks to its notoriety with critics and unforgettable title, the film has managed to develop a small cult following in the West, despite the exceedingly poor quality video transfers available prior to this DVD release. A most unconventional civil servant known as CSA Agent #999 (Norman Tsui Siu-keung) is ordered to arrest notorious thief Rolex (Melvin Wong Kam-sun), who makes his home on a remote island. What 999 doesn't know is that the place is populated almost entirely by cannibals and he barely escapes with his life after foolishly entering the local slaughterhouse. Rolex wants to leave the island but cannot because of orders from the colony's chief, so he reveals himself to martially skilled but not-very-bright 999 in the hopes that they can join forces to escape. When that plan fails, Rolex tries to murder The Chief (Eddy Ko Hung) but ends up dead himself, leaving 999 and another unfortunate traveller (Hon Kwok-choi) to battle the hordes of hungry killers themselves.

Some critics have identified the island of flesh eaters (personified by a collection of HK’s strangest looking character actors, including Fung Fung, San Kuai, and Tam Tin-nam) as a metaphor for Communist China but such a parallel seems fairly labored (The Chief's motto, "If you don't eat people, they'll eat you!" sounds more akin to capitalist dogma, if anything). It is more likely that the project takes its inspiration from THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and Italian horror pictures like MAN FROM DEEP RIVER, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, and Zombi 2 (for its US release as ZOMBIE, the Lucio Fulci picture was advertised with the tagline "We Are Going to Eat You!"), mixing their central ideas and images with uniquely Chinese situations and humor (including jokes about everyone from Wong Fei-hong to Abraham Lincoln!). The droll kung fu battles (choreographed by Corey Yuen Kwai and Chin Yuet-sang) and a subplot involving a love-stricken transvestite (played by giant-sized Hsiao Chin) provide a preview of the slapstick that would figure in Tsui's next picture, the marvelous gangster movie spoof ALL THE WRONG CLUES (...FOR THE RIGHT SOLUTION) (1981), which finally brought him some commercial success. However, this time out, the non-stop barrage of manic chases, close calls, and daring escapes eventually grow a bit wearisome through repetition. Regardless, there is some incredible physical and charnel house comedy here, along with impeccably staged action, making WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU a one-of-a-kind venture that should definitely be seen by both horror fans and students of Tsui's work. Portions of the soundtrack have been lifted from Goblin’s inimitable score for SUSPIRIA and work quite well here. Actor/director/editor David Wu Tai-wai appears briefly in the opening reel as a chicken-hunting bumpkin who ends up getting sawed in half by the masked madmen.