The Haunted Cop Shop Blu-ray Review

88 Films

Blu-ray Release: October 6, 2026

Video: 1.85:1/1080p/Color

Audio: Cantonese LPCM 2.0 mono

Subtitles: English

Run Times: 95:14

Directors: Jeffrey Lau 

When a group of bumbling, underachieving cops find themselves assigned to a haunted precinct built atop a former wartime site once occupied by Japanese soldiers, they must confront increasingly bizarre and dangerous paranormal encounters. As the hauntings escalate, it becomes clear that surviving the night will require more than courage – it will take luck, ingenuity, and a willingness to embrace the absurd. (From 88 Films’ official synopsis)

In the 1980s, the Hong Kong box office was beset by a glut of martial arts/horror hybrids and police thrillers, fueled by genre spoofs, like Kuei Chih-Hung’s Hex vs. Witchcraft (1980) and Sammo Hung’s Winners & Sinners (1983), Hung’s groundbreaking jiangshi comedy Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980), and various hardnosed Jackie Chan cop movies. Eventually, someone at Golden Harvest said “Hey, why don’t we try combining all of these hits into a single production?” and Haunted Cop Shop (1987) was born.

Haunted Cop Shop was the directorial debut of producer/writer Jeffrey Lau and an early feature script from a soap opera writer named Wong Kar-wai. While not the first, best, or funniest of its kind, it is perhaps the most comprehensive combination of all the genre fads that were popular at the time. The connections to Ricky Lau’s (no relation) Mr. Vampire (1985) and its sequels are pretty obvious, from jokes contrasting Hollywood and Hong Kong style vampires, the casting of goofball extraordinaries Ricky Hui and Billy Lau (also no relation), and a meta joke where the police chief asks the vampire for star Lam Ching-ying’s autograph. What is less expected, given the general tone of the film, is how bloody Haunted Cop Shop gets when it changes gears from Winners & Sinners antics to full-bore action-horror.

There are additional connections to Wellson Chin’s all-female The Inspector Wears Skirts (1988) series, which is interesting, because Lau made his own girl cop ensemble flick the same year, Operation Pink Squad (1988), starring Inspector Wears Skirts’ Sandra Ng. He then made a pseudo-sequel to that film, Operation Pink Squad II (1989), in which Ng and her cohorts investigate a haunted apartment complex. That film is as much a Haunted Cop Shop follow-up as an Operation Pink Squad series entry. Clearly, Lau knew his strengths and was happy to reiterate a formula.

The slapstick ghost gravy train didn’t last forever and Lau adjusted, finding greater fame in the ‘90s, working with Stephen Chow on All For the Winner (1990), Out of the Dark (1995), the Chinese Odyssey series (1995, 2002), and Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Brigitte Lin & Tony Leung Chiu-wai on The Eagle Shooting Horses (1993), Andy Lau on Days of Tomorrow (1993), and Chow Yun-fat on Treasure Hunt (1994). Lau and Wong collaborated again for the sequel, Haunted Cop Shop II (1988), and Savior of Soul (1991), co-directed by Lau, David Lai, and Corey Yuen. By that time, Wong had made As Tears Go By (1988) and was on his way to becoming the arthouse darling of the Hong Kong New Wave with help from Lau, who produced Chunking Express (1994), Ashes of Time (1994), and Fallen Angels (1995).

Video

Prior to this 88 Films Blu-ray, Haunted Cop Shop has not previously been officially released on North American home video. It was easy enough to import a region free, anamorphic DVD from Joy Sales in Hong Kong, then showed up on Hong Kong Blu-ray from Panorama. 88 Films’ promotional info states that their 1.85:1, 1080p transfer is taken from a 2K restoration of the original negatives. I’m not sure if that means it’s a different transfer than the Panorama disc and don’t have that one on hand for a direct comparison. Either way, the transfer is in keeping with the average 88 Films ‘80s HK reissue.

Cinematographer Peter Ngor goes all in on the blue, rose, and teal gels, which was very much the style at the time, thanks to Tsui Hark. The colors are rich, vivid, and pop beautifully against the harsh, backlit blacks. Grain is ever present, but consistent, aside from some daylight sequences, which are a little noisier. Specifically, abrupt camera movement during smoky sequences creates a bit of smearing. Detail is limited by the use of fog and shallow focus, but is still tight and the people behind the remaster avoid overcorrecting and creating edge enhancement problems.

Audio

Haunted Cop Shop is presented in its original Cantonese mono and uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio. I assume that there were Mandarin and English dubs recorded at some point, but they’ve been lost to time. The cast appears to be speaking Cantonese on set, so the lip sync is pretty good as is the performance quality. Overall, sound quality is thin, but clean. The score is credited to pop songwriters/composers/producers Alastair Monteith-Hodge and Anders G. Nelsson. The music alternates between airy, eerie synth (very similar to the old Real Ghostbusters cartoon) and dopey comedic cues that are derivative of traditional songs, like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The repeated title track is a pretty convincing Devo riff, though.

Extras

• Commentary with Frank Djeng – Everyone’s favorite Hong Kong cinema expert discusses the making of Haunted Cop Shop, the various movies it references/spoofs, Lau’s filmography (he apparently retired from the industry at least twice), the wider careers of the cast & crew, Wong’s contributions and other collaborations with Lau (the two seem to have a playful rivalry), and Hong Kong locations.

• Hauntings and Hollerings: James Mudge on The Haunted Cop Shop (24:45, HD) – The critic, industry expert, and filmmaker explores Lau’s career, his partnership with Wong, and the state of the Hong Kong film industry when Haunted Cop Shop was made.

• Alternate/extended shots (0:36, HD)

• Image gallery

• Hong Kong theatrical trailer 

The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.