Magic Cop

Lam Ching-Ying--Mr. Vampire himself--is Uncle Feng, a Hong Kong policeman who uses magic to battle an evil sorceress (Michiko Nishiwaki), head of a drug smuggling operation. When he's not fighting ghosts, vampires and ghouls, Feng tries to keep two randy cops from pestering his pretty niece Lin (Mei-Wah Wong).

Like so many supernatural Hong Kong movies, Magic Cop mixes comedy with its horror, and your level of enjoyment will depend on your sense of humour. I always struggle with Hong Kong comedy, so the gags, and the irritating comedic characters, did spoil the film somewhat for me. As far as I am concerned, Magic Cop works best when it forgets all about the silly slapstick and concentrates on delivering horror, magic and crazy action, which it thankfully does in the very entertaining finalé that ends the film on a high.

Magic Cop also features just a smidgen of kung fu, but I would have liked to have seen more, especially considering the presence of Nishiwaki and the amazing Billy Chow as the sorceress's servant.

Overall, I rate Magic Cop 6/10.