The success of MR. VAMPIRE (reviewed issue #142a) led to a spate of HK horror comedies in the late '80s and director Jeff Lau Chun-wai contributed to that trend with such "Police Academy Meets the Monsters" items as HAUNTED COP SHOP 1 & 2 (both co-written by Wong Kar-wai!) and OPERATION PINK SQUAD II (inexplicably rechristened THUNDER COPS for its DVD release). By the time he came to write and direct this project for Sammo Hung Kam-po's Bo Ho Films company, the well was starting to run dry but MORTUARY BLUES still offers some fast paced fun for viewers who don't mind wading through a bog of low humor. The basic premise is reminiscent of John Carpenter's THE FOG: three centuries after one of their ancestors murdered the crew of an imperial ship and stole the gold they were transporting, the residents of an island off the coast of Hong Kong find themselves threatened by the spirit world. Before he died, the commander of the vessel put a curse on the island and the villagers decide to sacrifice one of the their number as a desperate act of appeasement. Meanwhile, slovenly cop Shih (Corey Yuen Kwai, who also produced and helped choreograph the action) is oblivious to this activity, devoting his efforts to finding evidence of local drug trafficking. In his mind, that can be the only explanation for why the villagers manage to support themselves without ever really working. The arrival of a third-rate opera company coincides with a pair of treasure hunters (Chung Fat and Tai Po) discovering the whereabouts of the plundered gold. Demonic forces make short work of them but three dimwits (Sandra Ng Kwan-yu, Sheila Chan Suk-lan, and actor/composer Lowell Lo Kwun-ting) from the troupe get their hands on the dead robbers' map. They somehow manage to correctly open the pagoda where the loot is stashed but also unleash the ghost of the captain. Murder and mayhem result and the only way to stop it is for Shih and the other survivors to get their hands on three coins and a magic sword, located at the heart of a dangerous underground cave.

The opening half hour delivers a barrage of the cheapest scatological, sex, and drug jokes imaginable but things improve considerably once the treasure site has been discovered. The level of humor does not rise appreciably (eg. we get yet another example of the uniquely HK horror/comedy edict that female ghosts can be temporarily subdued by grabbing them in, uh, delicate areas) but the level of manic energy certainly does. Our would-be heroes must battle persistent demons, dodge various Indiana Jones-style booby traps, and foil a guardian ghoul in a submerged cavern. These encounters provide engaging (if rather exhausting) diversion but the finale (in which the troupe attempts to foil the captain by staging an impromptu performance) will work best for those who have some basic familiarity with Peking Opera. Peter Chan Lung, Charlie Cho Cha-lei, Alex To Tak-wai, and Amy Yip Chi-mei also appear.