Film Name: 猛鬼差馆 / The Haunted Cop Shop / 猛鬼差館
From the film “All for the Winner,” we first encountered Stephen Chow and his signature absurd comedy style. Through “A Chinese Odyssey,” we discovered for the first time that behind Stephen Chow stood an exceptionally talented comedy director: Lau Ching-wan. This director, who had previously helmed numerous classic ghost films without achieving widespread fame, carved out a uniquely unconventional niche within the comedy film genre. Through collaborations on “A Chinese Odyssey,” “Out of the Dark,” and “Kung Fu Hustle,” he and Stephen Chow perfected the absurd comedy style—exaggerated, bizarre, and laugh-out-loud ridiculous—pushing it to its ultimate limits, a standard few have since matched. Liu Zhenwei is undeniably one of the founding fathers and key architects of Hong Kong’s absurd comedy cinema.
This absurd style wasn’t confined to his later works. From his debut film “The Haunted Cop Shop,” his signature traits—exaggerated vulgarity, flirtatious banter, unrestrained madness, and self-deprecating humor—were already fully present. For instance, the shared traits of lechery, cowardice, and betrayal between characters like Kim Mak-kei and Meng Chao provided ample opportunities for their exaggerated vulgarity and flirtatious banter. Scenes like scrutinizing colleagues’ attire on staircases or singing romantic ballads in front of female superiors exemplify the gradual crystallization of Lau’s comedic style. Yet these elements merely subverted tradition through characterization. He also pushed the boundaries of madness and exaggeration, drawing inspiration from cartoonish elements and distilling the essence of slapstick humor from other genres. His films drastically reworked or completely subverted classic cinematic tropes, offering reverse-engineered comedic takes on orthodox genre characters while packaging them in modern, fashion-forward alternatives—another defining feature of Wong’s work. For instance, he took the then-popular period zombie films directed by Lau Koon-wai and subjected them to a modern makeover. He discarded the Qing dynasty attire and the bouncing gait traditionally associated with zombies, replacing them with Western-style vampires clad in red capes and sporting large fangs. He also radically subverted the police genre, transforming the traditionally solemn police station into a WWII-era Japanese military club. Within the framework of a comedic ghost film, he tells the story of a Japanese soldier who commits seppuku, only to become a zombie and wreak havoc in the police station during the Ghost Festival. The plot twists are wildly bizarre: the Loach King is lured into the ghost realm by a female specter to play a life-or-death mahjong match against three vengeful spirits; the overconfident Meng Chao engages in a hospital room showdown with a female zombie over a key—scenes never before seen in similar films. Beyond this, Liu Zhenwei delights in adding comedic touches to the details. For instance, the female boss trapped in the forest resorting to wearing her rose-embroidered underwear as a head covering, or Meng Chao encountering a zombie while catching chickens—these moments all showcase a playful spirit in the finer details.
Throughout his creative process, Liu Zhenwei consistently employs a lighthearted, humorous approach infused with playful energy. His boundless imagination, subversive cinematic thinking, and unconventional genre interpretations enrich his expressive palette, rendering his films distinctly unique.
Across his filmography—be it ghost stories, gambling dramas, or police thrillers—Lau consistently blends slapstick absurdity with avant-garde flair. This signature blend consistently propels his films to box office success, routinely surpassing the ten-million-dollar mark. Hong Kong critics thus categorize him as an unconventional director, describing him as “Hong Kong cinema’s most elusive wild card.” Regardless of such labels, Liu Zhenwei’s distinctive creative approach has undeniably cemented his illustrious film career.
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