User Reviews

I never got to see this in the theaters, but luckily I remembered it when it came time to rescue it from the local discount video bin. A small Irish family led by whimsically-talented Peter O'Toole conjure up some fake ghosts to lure some tourists and save their ancestral castle from Americans. The ghosts of their ancestors are offended by the fake ghosts so they lend their expertese to save the castle. The humor and the jokes are very good, but some of the hauntings, specifically the nuns, are better than others. Skinny and gawky Liam Neeson and Darryl Hannah, rather skinny and gawky herself, interestingly act out and stick to playing two ghosts stuck in a place memory as Steve Guttenberg plays a husband stuck in an unhappy marriage with sexy Beverly D'Angelo. Most of the movie circles around them and some questionable spernatural phenomenon. There's some holes in the plot as Hannah the ghost ends up in D'Angelo's body, but looks like herself ? Peter Gallagher and Jennifer Tilly share a barely seen sub-plot as Martin Ferrero plays a ghost-hunter/harried husband. All in all, this isn't a bad movie. It's rather enjoyable but the only Irish countryside we do do get to see is rather dismal and depressing.

Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole) is about to lose his family castle in Ireland if he doesn't raise some money quickly. While talking to his mother about the problem, she mentions all of the "ghosts" of the castle. That sparks an idea--to market Castle Plunkett to tourists as a hotel that's the most haunted destination in the world, or the western hemisphere, or some such. When the first group of tourists arrives, Plunkett's crew puts forward a slapdash effort to feign hauntings, but it turns out that the castle may be really haunted after all.

Yowza, what a mess this film is! I had a quick sinking feeling during the credits when writer/director Neil Jordan's name came up. Although I've only seen four of his films so far, I can only remember liking one of them, We're No Angels--and this is coming from a reviewer who likes the great majority of films that he sees. Still I was prepared to give it a generous chance. After all, I love horror comedies from Ghostbusters to Young Frankenstein, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and Cannibal--The Musical.

There are a host of problems with High Spirits:

* The film isn't very funny. Granted, comedies need not make you laugh out loud to succeed. At it's best, High Spirits can be cute, and I did smile a bit. But a lot of the film was an almost embarrassing attempt at humor.

* Jordan apparently directed the actors to amp it up as if this were a stage performance. Everyone severely overacts, turning into "super-hams" and frequently yelling their lines. It's even worse when a whole gaggle of actors does this at the same time, which happens frequently here. I know I've complained elsewhere about mumbling and whispering in recent films, but I'll take that any day over this kind of overacting. This flaw is especially strange given that many members of the cast have been great in other films.

* Even though it should be fairly straightforward, the plot frequently confused me. Why the family would still be making payments on the castle was never clear to me. I didn't get where the tourists came from all of a sudden. It didn't seem to be the case that this small group of tourists would help the hotel/castle raise the money it needed within a few weeks. Also, a large number of events seemed random. I didn't know why they were happening, and I didn't really care. Which brings me to the next problem: * There didn't seem to be any ground rules laid down for the film's world, and any that were laid down seemed to be frequently contradicted. At times, the film plays like there wasn't even a script, but Jordan had access to a nifty old castle in Ireland, so on the fly, they just made up what they thought would be wacky set-pieces.

Remarkably, there were also a number of things that the film did right:

* The first section of the film, featuring the castle's bunch of rag tags trying to pull off a haunted house for the bunch of rag tag tourists, had a lot of potential. Even if it wouldn't have been hilarious, it could have been a charming comedy in the classical literary sense of "comedy", if High Spirits would have stuck with this material, toned down the overacting, and made an attempt at a logical script.

* Some of the ghost material and haunted house effects were enjoyable. Again, they weren't funny, but there was also potential here to make an effective haunted house film, even if lighter in mood. The crypt zombie-ghosts were great, but only showed up for a minute or two.

* The castle and grounds were fantastic. They could have easily provided a setting for a film as good as Roger Corman's Vincent Price films. There were a couple nice bits of cinematography showing off the castle and grounds, as well.

* The love stories at the end almost started working for me. Again, this might have been a more effective direction on which to focus the majority of the film. The minor characters dropped out at this point (and really, the cast was too big, because most of them were wasted), the overacting was toned-down, and the non-sequitur plot elements dropped out.

My final verdict? The positive elements brought the film up to a 5 out of 10. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. I can't recommend it, but it is perhaps worth watching on cable or renting at least once for die-hard fans of horror comedies.

High Spirits (1988) is a movie my daughter and I watched together on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a struggling castle that decides to remarket itself as a haunted castle as one last attempt to be profitable. They get a surge of guests just in time to discover the castle really is haunted. This movie is directed by Neil Jordan (Interview with a Vampire) and stars Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia), Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill), Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy), Tom Hickey (Gothic), Beverly D'Angelo (Christmas Vacation) and Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky). This is a movie I watched on HBO a million times as a kid. The carefree story is fun and unfolds well and I loved the real and fake ghosts sequences. The props and special effects were so fun and the depth and evolution of the characters are well executed. Guttenberg was perfectly cast for this film and the conclusion always made me want a sequel. This is one of those feel good family movies with a high rewatch value. I strongly recommend seeing this at least once, even if you don't watch it as a family movie. I'd score this a solid 7/10.

Peter O'Toole is hysterical in this film, and quite easily, is the glue that holds it together (contrary to popular opinion). While this film suffers its share of problems, (such as a few holes in the plot, a little shoddy acting here and there) it makes me laugh as few other movies have. O'Toole's drunken wisdom and fights with his drunken, ghost-talking mother are great. Steve Guttenberg does fine, Daryl Hannah is okay. The Irish country side is lovelyand haunting (incidentally, the movie was filmed in a castle in Limerick,Ireland, where Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes grew up); the set ofthe castle itself is the stuff that fairy tales are made of. The effort that the staff makes to haunt the cynical guests is great, in particular the Lady Godiva/Broggan Banshee fiasco.

While the whole spouse-swapping aspect of the movie is a little hazy, Beverly D'Angelo and Liam Neeson are grand. The entire plot is somewhat goofy, as are some of the transitions to get from Point A to Point B, but it is the humor that keeps it alive. It received terrible reviews, but it's absolutely worth a viewing if you're ever in the mood for something a little absurd that will make you chuckle.

A very unusual film by Neil Jordan. During the first minutes you have the feeling you just landed in a terrible mess, but this movie is getting funnier by the minute. Almost every actor goes in overdrive with the godlike Martin Ferrero (Izzy from Miami Vice) as a perfect example, but this was a very good laugh. And who couldn't fall in love with Daryl Hannah even if she's 200 years old!

Peter O'Toole is a hoot as the harried owner / operator of a run-down Irish castle. Since he is in dire straits financially, he decides on a gimmick: turn the castle into a ghost-themed tourist attraction. Soon, a bunch of customers from America have turned up, including married couple Jack and Sharon (Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D'Angelo), a parapsychologist (Martin Ferrero) and his family, a young priest (Peter Gallagher), and a ditsy sexpot (the one and only Jennifer Tilly). What happens is that some honest-to-God real ghosts show up, chief among them Mary and Martin (Daryl Hannah and Liam Neeson), who have been re-enacting his murder of her for almost 200 years now.

While this viewer is glad that some people do take great pleasure in "High Spirits", he found it a tedious mess often lacking in wit. It has a lot of spirit (pardon the expression) as it devises various frantic and farcical moments, but the material just isn't that great. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed for many of the actors, who frequently have to try too hard to make it all work. (The cast would charge that the producers were the ones that ruined the thing with their meddling and trashing of writer / director Neil Jordans' ("The Crying Game") good intentions.) The visual effects are variable, and production designer Anton Furst ("Batman" '89) creates some generally agreeable sets. A real castle in Ireland was also utilized, and there's some effective atmosphere generated from the location shooting that was done. The wind machine certainly goes full-blast at times.

Some actors come off better than others. O'Toole, Neeson, and Ray McAnally (as O'Tooles' ghostly father) are pretty amusing, and as you can see, there are some very lovely ladies on hand. The less said about Guttenberg, the better.

Overall, a disappointment, although it does tend to get somewhat better as it goes along.

Four out of 10.

Peter O'Toole runs a failing hotel in an Irish castle, so he and his colorful Fawlty Towers-like employees scheme to spur visitor interest by faking that it's haunted. American tourists Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D'Angelo show up to see the reported ghosts and silliness ensures as the badly staged paranormal events unfold. However, real ghosts show up in the form of Liam Neeson and Daryl Hannah, for another plot line involving them having to find resolution to events in their past lives and falling in love with Guttenberg and D'Angelo. Director Neil Jordan distanced himself from the released version of the film, claiming that he was excluded from the editing process and that the final cut did not represent his vision. What is left is a likable cast of characters and performers, along with a rich gothic atmosphere, which Jordan would later take to the next level in his lavishly produced adaptation of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire," but unfortunately the story and comedy is not all that great. Still, the cast, production design, and rich photography are enough to make the film worth checking out, but don't go into it expecting anything close to Jordan's best films. Jennifer Tilly and Peter Gallagher also appear.

This movie has a rather standard plot of some old 1970's horror films that I have seen over the years, that of the old house, old building, in this case the old castle where some sort of tragic event took place and the participants of this event are doomed to keep repeating it in the afterlife. And as is the case with those horror movies the event that took place in this movie is the murder of a woman by her jealous husband. This movie is not a horror movie by an stretch of the imagination, it is a comedy. I think some people are visiting the castle and staying there when all the ghost stuff starts happening. It has its moments when it is rather funny as Peter O'Toole is the best member of the cast as far as being funny, then the movie gets right down into being a sort of romance movie. Then the movie ends in a rather unrealistic way, leaving you to think what is up with that. There is also a sex scene that gets rather intense for a PG-13 rated movie so you may want to think twice about letting the kids see this one. I read this movie is not really what the director wanted and it shows as the movie at times plays out in a disjointed fashion. Still, there are laughs to be had and the plot is somewhat good if nothing we have not seen before.

If you can forgive the less-than-ideal acting by some of the other cast, Peter O'Toole once again shows why he's one of the greatest actors in the English speaking world. From the scene where he's trying to hang himself while arguing with his mother, to where he meets his ghost-Dad, O'Toole is hilarious as the bumbling, scheming drunk Irish fool who is desperate to keep the family castle in family hands.

I remember seeing it & thinking it was hilarious, then later when films on disk came out, I couldn't remember the name of the stupid movie, I was so frustrated.

Then today, I looked up Daryl Hannah & I saw one that was at the right time. And this is it! Hurrah! I think 5.7 is way too LOW. Maybe some people don't get British humor? No, scratch that, lot's of people don't.

An Irish castle is about to be foreclosed on and sold to an American developer, but the head of the household (Peter O'Toole) devises a plan to present the castle as haunted and lure in tourists. But when the spirits of his ancestors catch wind of the foreclosure, they take matters in to their own hands.

This film is Peter O'Toole. If you like him, like his accent or whatever about him, you might like this film... but beyond that, it's a bit of a flop. Steve Guttenberg is here after his career peaked, Daryl Hannah described as beautiful but looking nasty, Peter Gallagher in a humorous but small role and Liam Neeson in makeup not really allowing his talent to shine.

As a comedy, the film does not have much to offer. As a horror film, it has even less. It may be sort of a romantic comedy, but not really... the story just does not go anywhere. I find most of the supporting cast annoying or unnecessary, and it strikes me as an excuse to cast Irish actors and bring some revenue to Ireland... but this film even fails as a tourism promotion.

I won't say I entirely disliked it. It was watchable, and even though I think the plot was a bit inconsistent at times (can ghosts touch people or not?) it was an interesting idea. Probably not original... probably not even a little bit. But still sort of fun in an 80s way.

I had never heard of this film before my girlfriend pulled it out of a box of old VHS tapes... and now I'm not surprised. It was a good time sharing a childhood memory with her, but I can see why the film has been forgotten. So many more films have been made since, quite a film of them better, that it's not likely you will go out of your way to see this one and I don't encourage you to do so.

High Spirits turned out to be a pretty good comedy. Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole), and his gang of merry Irishmen are facing foreclosure on their grand castle resort. The old fashioned castle needs a clever advertising gimmick to entice visitors. After talking with his looney, but sincere old mother who always claims that she talks to his dead father and the rest of the poor spirits looming around the dark castle, Plunkett decides that the castle ought to be haunted. And so, the guests are invited to stay among the spirits of the Plunkett family. Of course, Plunkett doesn't believe in the existence of ghosts, especially when he hasn't seen any for himself, despite his mother's attempts to convince him that they're everywhere. No, Plunkett's plan involves a few crappy props and some cheap scare tactics to thrill their small group of American guests.

But Plunkett and the gang (nor their furious guests) would ever have imagined real ghosts showing up. And this is where the movie really starts to get funny because everyone, after their various confrontations with the undead and all the strange things that start to happen in the castle, start to become so neurotic as they try to figure out what's going on.

The movie is a romantic comedy, of course, though it could've worked simply as a story of the funny occurences in the haunted castle as Plunkett and his frantic guests scurry about trying to deal with the situation any way that they can. Guttenberg is Jack, a sorry guy who's married to a real dull lady (Beverly D'Angelo) that really can't stand to know him, especially when he drags her out to some stupid castle. Jack actually starts to fall in love with one of the ghosts, a Plunkett ancestry named Mary (Daryl Hannah), a sickley looking young girl who died by the knife of her husband (Liam Neesom). The ghosts keep playing out the murder over and over again, and Jack, accidently intervening in one of the reenactments, somehow frees Mary from the murder. And so, now she's in love with Jack. But how does a ghost and a human end up together (and they have to end up together...after all it's a Hollywood love story)? Well, that's why you have to watch the movie.

Everyone in the movie is fantastic because, though some may start out to be quite annoying (such as the self-declared "professional parasychologist" or the cynical Sharon (D'Angelo)), they eventually come to be very entertaining as the movie goes along. I especially like the goofy interaction between Meg Tilly as the nympho and Peter Gallagher as the soon-to-be Priest. Peter O'Toole is wonderful. He is also the last to realize what the heck is going on.

It's definitely a comedy worth watching.

This 1988 comedy about an Irish hotelier who decides to market his castle based on rumors that it's haunted is sadly underrated on IMDB. OK, it's a farce, which few Americans appreciate; and yes, there are some gags that don't work; and yes, Daryl Hannah turns in one of her lesser performances. But there are another dozen actors/actresses in the cast who are wonderful comedians, led by Peter O'Toole--who's as funny as he's ever been--and including Beverly D'Angelo, Steve Guttenberg, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher, Connie Booth, and Liam Neeson. I've watched it three times over the years, and every time I've thought it was funny. Worth a look.

I enjoyed this movie. Wish they would have stayed focused on the hotel and staff rather than the romantic route

Another in a long line of ghostly comedies which does little to frighten, and even less to amuse. Getting to eyeball Miss Hannah and the breathy Jen Tilley was a treat, but not enough of one to recommend this dismal film. I wonder if Jennifer will ever make a decent picture...but what a sweet, panting voice she has.

Funny comedy with a good love story. If i had seen this one when i was younger would had been one of my favourites.

To avoid bankruptcy, the manager of a hotel pretends that the place is haunted by ghosts, unfortunately they really arrive.

Despite some atmospheric moments, some OK special effects and likable performances by Peter O'Toole and Steve Guttenberg (Daryl Hannah is too "soft"; Beverly D'Angelo is disappointing), this film is a fiasco. It suffers from special effects overkill, and the plot, which potentially contains some interesting developments, makes little sense. I think I'll have forgotten all about this film by tomorrow... (*1/2)

I gave this movie 4 stars for the all star cast who each had some nice moments. I found that as the movie went on, I didn't care who ended up with whom, or whether the castle was saved.

I can't really think of another movie with the same plot, but the plot seemed old and stale as I was watching it, though thinking about it now, it actually Is a pretty good idea for a film. I guess it just wasn't executed all that well.

The closest thing that comes to mind is Banquo's Chair from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which is great. Be sure to watch that and give this movie a miss.

What the hell, its quirky, and yeah OK not always highly acted, but I utterly love this movie, it is hilarious, and Peter O'Toole is magical, truly a must for sitting down and watching on a cold wet evening. Set in Ireland, it does prove to be a little on the stereotypical side towards the Irish but again, who cares, Whiting Bisque etc. Some of the effects are a little on the dodgy side, but with Peter O'Toole acting as brilliantly as ever they seem unimportant. I saw this movie when I was 10 or so and always loved it, remember the scenes with the nuns gave me a few nightmares as a child. Funny to rewatch and see how silly things seem now in adulthood.

The owner of a dilapidated castle in Ireland (Peter O'Toole) is about to lose it to foreclosure and so turns it into "the most haunted castle in Europe" in order to attract tourists. When the first group of travelers is bused-in to spend the night it turns out that the ancient citadel is actually haunted. The rest of the cast includes the likes of Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Tilly, Liam Neeson, Daryl Hannah and Peter Gallagher.

"High Spirits" (1988) is an outrageous horror comedy in the mold of "The Fearless Vampire Killers" (1967), "The Vampire Happening" (1971), "Young Frankenstein" (1974), "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" (1988) and "Elvira's Haunted Hills" (2001). It ranks with the best of these even though it failed at the box office.

Director Neil Jordan said that the movie released is very different from the one he shot, pointing out that he was excluded from the editing process of the final cut.

Beverly D'Angelo and Jennifer Tilly are of course highlights on the feminine front, but more shoulda/coulda been done with them (not talkin' about nudity or raunch). Still, enough was done with them.

The film runs 1 hour, 38 minutes, and was shot at Dromore Castle, County Limerick, Ireland. I'm sure a lot of it was also filmed in the studio.

GRADE: B.

Nice cast -- and they all do a fine job with two exceptions. Steve Guttenberg's natural venue is a television situation comedy, and Beverly D'Angelo brings a touch of subtlety to her role. Subtlety is otherwise absent from this frantic mess.

O'Toole is the owner of Plunkett Castle, actually Dromore Castle in County Limerick. Oh, it's a grand place, it is. I assume the interiors are sets but they're rich with atmosphere, a knockout place to throw a party. No kidding. It would be colossal fun to live in such a stony place, festooned as it is with cobwebs, as long as Darryl Hannah were running around in a diaphanous gown.

Anyway, O'Toole must pay the mortgage or lose the castle and see it transported to Malibu where it will be converted into a theme park or something. To save his home, O'Toole remodels it and advertises it as a haunted hotel. Fake ghosts and goblins and banshees are arranged. Of course the plan falls apart because of the shoddy design, but then the real ghosts start showing up, for reasons known only to ghosts.

It's all frenzied. It's too loud, too fast, and too clumsy. The jokes are fast, okay, but they're slapstick and ill thought out. The movie treats drunkenness as if that were funny in and of itself, although it's not. The dialog doesn't twinkle. Nobody says anything very amusing or clever. It reminded me of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" or, to a lesser extent, "1941." All had plenty of zest and not much else.

It's a disappointment considering the talent and production values on display. Too bad. The writer/director, Neil Jordan, was responsible for the superior "Mona Lisa" and "The Crying Game." He seems to have gotten lost in the hidden passageways and spooky compartments here.