Rent Ghouls Gone Wild (1988)
6h 9min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Following the breakout success of pioneering genre films Encounter of the Spooky Kind, The Dead and the Deadly and Mr Vampire, horror movies became a mainstay of film production in Hong Kong and Taiwan throughout the 1980s. Collected here are three of the standout titles from that horror boom, starring the likes of Chow Yun-fat (The Seventh Curse), Wu Ma (A Chinese Ghost Story) and Ricky Hui (Mr Vampire): 'Scared Stiff', 'The Haunted Cop Shop' and 'Magic of Spell'. Lau Kar-wing (Crouching Tiger, Fatty Dragon) directs 'Scared Stiff', in which a young everyman develops the ability to enter other people's dreams following an accident - and then finds himself using his gift to bring a sadistic murderer to justice. Co-written by Wong Kar-wai (Ashes of Time) and indebted in equal measure to Mr Vampire and Fright Night, 'The Haunted Cop Shop' sees cops and crooks alike forced to confront vengeful beings from beyond the grave in a police station built on a site of violence. Finally, in a supernatural wuxia fantasy on par with 'The Miracle Fighters' and 'Shaolin Drunkard', 'Magic of Spell' follows a kung fu master who must defeat the infernal demon responsible for his mother's death. Ranging in tone from laugh-out-loud comedy to straight-faced terror (sometimes in the same film) and featuring a litany of ruthless killers, restless spirits, vengeful jiangshi and infernal devils, 'Scared Stiff', 'The Haunted Cop Shop' and 'Magic of Spell' encapsulate the incredible range of Chinese-language horror filmmaking in the 1980s. - Actors:
- Hsiao-Lao Lin, Pao-Ming Ku, Mei Fang Yu, Shan Charng, Hsiung Yang, Ching-Wei Shen, Li-Chang Peng, Li Da Shen, Chi-Chiang Chen, Tu Chin, Yu-Ta Hsu, Han-Chang Hu, Chun Liao, Ju-Chiu Yang, Jacky Cheung, Ricky Hui, Kitty Chan, Fung Woo, Billy Lau, Rico Chu
- Directors:
- Chung-Hsing Chao, Jeffrey Lau, Lau Kar-Wing
- Producers:
- Alan Tang, Sammo Hung
- Writers:
- Chung-Hsing Chao, Wong Kar-Wai, Jeffrey Lau, Szeto Cheuk-hon, Wong Ying-kit, Ng Kam-hung
- Aka:
- Scared Stiff (Siu sang mung ging wan) / The Haunted Cop Shop (Mang gwai chai goon) / Magic of Spell (Tao da liang da xian shen wei)
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 19/10/2026
- Run Time:
- 369 minutes
- Languages:
- Cantonese LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Two presentations of 'Scared Stiff', the original Hong Kong theatrical cut and uncut extended version
- New audio commentary on Scared Stiff by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- New audio commentaries on The Haunted Cop Shop and Magic of Spell by genre cinema expert Arne Venema and filmmaker Domting
- Restless Spirits - new interview on the history of horror cinema in Hong Kong and Taiwan with film writer, curator and East Asian film expert Fraser Elliott
- Disc 1:
- Disc 2: