One of the great things about Hong Kong horror is that it has never been particularly interested in staying in one lane.
Ghosts? Yep.
Vampires? Absolutely.
Bumbling cops? Why the hell not.
Throw all three together and you get The Haunted Cop Shop, Jeffrey Lau’s glorious 1987 horror-comedy, which is coming to Region A Blu-ray from 88 Films on September 8, 2026, and this isn’t just a straight reissue, because the new release gives the cult favourite a 2K restoration from the original negative, along with a remastered Cantonese soundtrack and a collection of new and archival extras.
A Haunted Police Station Full of Very Unhappy Ghosts
This film takes place in a Hong Kong police station with a particularly unpleasant history – during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the building was used as a clubhouse by Japanese soldiers, where at the end of the war, a number of them committed ritual suicide there, leaving behind some seriously pissed-off spirits, and years later, the police are using the building without exactly worrying about its history.
That changes when thief Sneaky Ming, played by Billy Lau, is locked up at the station and becomes caught up with the supernatural forces still hanging around the place, and things get considerably worse when he inadvertently unleashes General Issei, a particularly nasty spirit who returns as a vampire and starts causing absolute havoc.
That leaves cops Kam Mark-K, played by Jacky Cheung, and Man-Chill, played by Ricky Hui, attempting to deal with an infestation of ghosts, vampires and general supernatural madness – basically, it’s a police procedural where the suspects are dead.
Wong Kar-wai also co-wrote the film with Jeffrey Lau, yes, that Wong Kar-wai.
Long before Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046, Wong was working within Hong Kong’s commercial cinema machine, and The Haunted Cop Shop represents one of his early screenplay credits, and Jeffrey Lau, meanwhile, directed the movie and was already well established within Hong Kong genre cinema.
The film stars Jacky Cheung as Kam Mark-K and Ricky Hui as Man-Chill – Cheung would go on to become one of Hong Kong’s biggest stars and most successful Cantopop singers, but The Haunted Cop Shop catches him much earlier in his film career.
Hui was already a familiar face in Hong Kong comedy though, having appeared in numerous films including the Mr. Vampire series.
A New 2K Restoration
For horror collectors, the biggest selling point of the new 88 Films release is the new 2K restoration from the original negative, where the film will be presented with its original Cantonese mono soundtrack, which has also been remastered, alongside newly translated English subtitles.
The release also comes with:
- Audio commentary by Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng
- Hauntings and Hollerings, a critical appreciation by James Mudge
- Alternate and extended shots
- Image gallery
- Original Hong Kong trailer
- Reconstructed Tai Seng trailer
- Reversible sleeve
- O-ring slipcase featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore
The Region A edition is a single-disc Blu-ray, with a runtime listed at around 96 minutes and Cantonese audio, and is scheduled for release on September 8, 2026, and you can order it here.
Trailer
More Asian horror movie news.
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- Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan Is Coming Back to Cinemas in Gorgeous New 4K Restoration
- Takashi Miike’s Gozu Is Finally Getting the 4K UHD Treatment
- Ta Khon: The Cursed Mask Makes Its Latin American Premiere in São Paulo
- Confessions Of A Shaman Becomes Thailand’s Second Biggest Film of 2026 to Date
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