High Spirits (1988)

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.

The proprietor of a run-down British castle unleashes the long dormant ghosts of his odd family when he creates a phony facade of spirits. Veteran star Peter O'Toole gives a charming performance as the owner with the wonderfully eccentric Liz Smith as his dotty mother, the only person aware of the ghosts. That is until snooty Beverly D'Angelo arrives with the intention of claiming it. Her neglected husband (Steve Guttenberg) begins to see a ghostly murder repeated over and over, and his interference changes the course of history at the castle. Harmless fun, this popcorn film is a modern day "Canterville Ghost" that has plenty of laughs, a lot of romance, and a few scares. Handsome Peter Gallagher (as a priest who has not taken his final vows) and vinegary voiced Jennifer Tilly appear in smaller roles that serve no purpose although the flying bed that Tilly is on ended up on the original poster.I discovered Liz Smith (no relation to the famous New York columnist) in the late 80's when she made a slew of British produced movies released to American audiences, and fell absolutely in love with her. She reminded me of a slightly classier Hermoine Baddley. Gorgeous Darryl Hannah and rugged Liam Neeson are excellent as the ghosts who surprisingly find love with the mortals haunting their ancestral home. D'Angelo, one of the wonders of the 80's (because I always wonder what happened to her until I investigated after seeing this movie again!), is beautiful, snooty, imperious, funny, and riveting. The only acting disappointment for me was Guttenberg whose acting style seems oddly out of place from the rest of the cast. While this will be greatly compared to other supernatural comedies such as "Beetlejuice" and "Hocus Pocus" (as well as the disastrous "Haunted Honeymoon"), it is still fun on its own merits.

This is without a doubt one of my all time favorite movies!! I love every eccentric cheap second of it and couldn't ask for anything more, I've actually memorized it!! The story begins with Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole) about to have his home/castle/hotel taken away by a family rival named Jim Brogen who wants to open it as a theme park called "Irish World" in Malibu, CA. Fearing the loss of his home and place of employment he gathers his fellow workers and drunken mom (Liz Smith who I would love to have drink with) to conspire a way to get tourists to come stay at his hotel by masking it as a "haunted castle" which of course it's not although mum says otherwise. Of the many colorful guests that are staying there is Jack Crawford (Steve Gutenberg) and his wife Sharon (Beverly D'Angelo) who are having extreme issues with their marriage and are coming to Castle Plunkett in an attempt at a second honeymoon which Sharon wants no part of. Among the other guests are a parapsychologist (an expert in ghosts) and his family set to disprove the haunting, a not yet affirmed priest (peter Gallagher) and a sex crazed chick (Jennifer Tilly). Shortly after arriving the guests discover Plunkett's gimmick and prepare to leave but not before they learn that Sharon was sent by her father Jim Brogen to spy on Plunkett thus using her and Jack's trip as an excuse.Jack then gets drunk and stumbles onto a ghostly murder taking place and somehow manages to stop it. Soon after he falls for the murdered specter named Mary Plunkett (Daryl Hannah) and her killer husband Martin Brogen(Liam Neeson)who stabbed her on their wedding night wrongly believing that she loved someone else.Later weird things start happening to the guests and the very real ghosts of the castle begin to make their presences known especially Martin who won't give up on trying to seduce Sharon. (funniest parts of the movie if you ask me).On Halloween night things come to ahead and Jack and Mary get it on which afterwords puts him up the the ultimate test of love. Sharon unknowingly gives up her life for Mary and takes her place to be with Martin.By the end everyone is happily ever after. Honestly Liam Neeson was my favorite character of the whole thing and Peter O'Toole was brilliant. I believe this is somewhat based off a much older movie but for the life of me i can't remember the title any who, watch it on a rainy day and i promise you won't regret it.

This is entertaining from both theatrical and cinematic point of view. It's a very rare time to witness the comic side of director (Neil Jordan) the guy who would direct later a chain of very serious and cheerless films in the 1990s like for instances Interview with the Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1996), or The End of the Affair (1999). So to perfect such a fantastic romantic comedy as cheery, tumultuous and simple as this, is something really wired and historical for him.Actually it's more like an old ghost story collides with any wacky comedy from the 1930s' cinema, yet achieving an originality that makes it one of the 1980s' nicest flicks. The cast was perfect. Forget that (Darryl Hannah) was at her worst, because even that can't take from the movie's high light personality. The wonderful showy efforts of (Peter O'Toole) accorded with this atmosphere and harmonized with it. He was loose as the defeated miserable drunken Peter Plunkett, adding a tasty flavor to the character's bitterly sarcastic way, being a treat to watch apart since there are not many comedic precedents in (O'Toole)'s career. Btw, I refuse to accept the dim-witted remarks about him here as he was playing himself. Because aside from that as something I don't buy, he was too good in his role to be a miserable defeated actor by all means.The comedy is swift, the pace is crazy, and the sets are inspiring. There is a certain delight and bright sense all over the movie. The sexiness is over-the-top with mega-gorgeous babes : (Beverly D'Angelo) was outrageously sexy, (Jennifer Tilly) isn't bad herself, and even an extra by the name of (Hilary Reynolds), who played near to silent maid, fascinated me utterly. It even managed to have a genuine tender message as well about true love and how it brings life to everyone and everything around. I liked the frisky end where every soul met its fair match. Makes you wish : if life was like this ! There are sensitive bits, or so droll to cartonnish extent, that push me to rethink : who was exactly the man that directed the list of movies that I mentioned previously ?!! (Jordan) himself has always maintained that the released version of this movie is very different from the one he shot, insisting that his version is still locked away in a vault. According to long experience with (Jordan)'s other works (in fact all of them !), I say keep it in the vault, this one is satisfying as it is. Thanks to the funny spirit whoever made it anyway. Because when it comes to an entertaining movie, I find nothing to ask more than what this one has.