The Haunted Cop Shop (1987) (Limited Edition) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Jeffrey Lau

Cast: Ricky Hui, Jacky Cheung, Kitty Chan

Release Date: October 6, 2026

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Release Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

The Haunted Cop Shop is a wildly entertaining Hong Kong horror-comedy that blends supernatural chills with slapstick humor and irreverent genre mashups, marking an early screenplay credit for Wong Kar-wai long before his rise as an arthouse auteur. Directed by Jeffrey Lau, the film taps into the late-1980s boom of ghost comedies, combining eerie folklore with outrageous comedy and energetic performances from stars Jacky Cheung and Ricky Hui

Set in a police station built atop a former wartime site once occupied by Japanese soldiers, the film unleashes a wave of restless spirits who return to haunt the living. When a group of bumbling, underachieving cops find themselves assigned to the precinct, 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.

‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ tells the story of two wacky local cops who get in way over their heads when the dark past of their local police station returns to their world in a supernatural romp you’ll have to see to believe. When hauntings start to arise at a local police station that was built atop a former Japanese hangout used by soldiers during the war, it leads to numerous odd scenarios and situations and a resurrected General who returns as a deadly vampire and begins trying to take out the occupants of the station, leaving the heroics to a bumbling pair of unlikely officers who are hopefully up to the challenge.

Directed by Jeffrey Lau from a screenplay written by Wong Kar-Wai & Jeffrey Lau, Lau does a solid job at the helm of ‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ guiding along the goofy horror-comedy with style and laughs. The film’s cast includes Ricky Hui, Jacky Cheung, Kitty Chan, Fung Woo, Billy Lau and more, and while many of the performances are over the top and silly they work rather well within the scope of the film and the two leads are perfect as the bumbling potential heroes.

‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ first debuted in 1987 in Hong Kong and Taiwan and it still manages to offer up a goofy, visually stylish good time that’s filled with chaos, humor and some monster-related action, offering up very few dull moments, at least once things get moving and the fun really begins. ‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ isn’t necessarily a great film by any means, but to be fair I’m guessing it was never intended to be a critically acclaimed masterpiece. It wisely embraces its inane and goofy tone at every turn and then throws in some violent monster/haunting related elements that are often as over the top as the dialogue and interactions.

For fans of similar Asian ghost-comedy films this one should offer up a pretty great time for those who might not have previously seen it, and if you’re already intrigued then it couldn’t hurt to give this one a shot whenever you have the chance. It also interestingly marks one of the first screenplays co-written by Wong Kar-Wai who would go on to pen and even direct such acclaimed films as Chungking Express.

‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ comes home on Blu-ray in the US courtesy of 88 Films and features an incredibly nice full High Definition presentation that hails from a new 2K restoration of the original negative which is paired with a very solid new remastered dual-mono lossless soundtrack that together have this ‘80s romp looking and sounding pretty spectacular. In addition to the noteworthy video and audio offerings, the new Blu-ray release from 88 Films also offers a collection of entertaining extras that should keep fans busy for a good few minutes after watching the film. The release also features reversible artwork with the new artwork and the original poster art, in addition to a very sturdy and glossy slipcover sporting the newly commissioned artwork and even a foldout Poster with both art options. If you’re a fan of similar ghost horror-comedies that were all the rage for some time and would love to own this one on Blu-ray, then this terrific new release should easily excite and is recommended.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio featuring a new 2K restoration from the original negative. The video presentation looks incredibly nice as a whole and it offers a clean, sharp and vividly colored presentation from start to finish that’s absent of any notable issues to be uncovered along the way. Details are solid on characters, backgrounds and everything else, while the film’s use of bright, vivid colors repeatedly shines and black levels hold up capably throughout as well. Overall, this is a great High Definition presentation that should easily excite fans of this goofy ‘80s ride.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release includes a remastered 2.0 dual-mono LPCM soundtrack in the film’s original Cantonese language with newly translated English subtitles. This lossless mono soundtrack is quite nice itself and it provides a generally crisp and clean soundtrack that shares the channel without issue. It capably balances all dialogue, along with various action and haunting effects, music and everything else and makes certain that no simultaneously occurring audio elements ever contradict or negatively impact one another. Overall, this is a solid dual-mono LPCM soundtrack that does its job well and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ features some nice bonus material. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng’, along with ‘Hauntings and Hollerings – James Mudge on The Haunted Cop Shop’ (running approximately 25 minutes in length), plus ‘Alternate and Extended Shots from the Mandarin Version’ (36 seconds). Also included is the ‘Original Trailer’ for the film (approximately 4 minutes) and an ‘Image Gallery’. The release also features a nice sturdy and glossy slipcase, plus reversible cover art and a foldout reversible Poster with the original and new artwork.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Release Rating: 8/10

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‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray from 88 Films

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You can purchase ‘The Haunted Cop Shop’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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