Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

SnoopyStyle Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole) is the drunk owner of a rundown Irish castle turned hotel. He needs to come up with the money in three weeks or else he will be foreclosed and the castle moved to Malibu. With his annoying mother's stories of ghosts, he gets his ragtag group of workers to haunt the castle for the arriving Yank tourists. Among the Americans are Jack (Steve Guttenberg) and wife Sharon Crawford (Beverly D'Angelo), Brother Tony (Peter Gallagher) before he takes his vows, Miranda (Jennifer Tilly) who has swore off men, Malcolm (Martin Ferrero) and his loud annoying family. The haunting efforts are amateurish but then the real ghosts show up. Sharon's father holds the mortgage and she's eager to disprove the ghosts. On the other hand, Jack falls for the beautiful ghost Mary (Daryl Hannah). Mary was killed by her husband Martin Brogan (Liam Neeson) and they are both forced to relive the moment. A drunken Jack breaks the moment.This could have been a fun little British romp about a bunch of local misfits trying to make a haunted castle. It has the potential to do that but the more Hollywood it gets, the less fun it becomes. The movie concentrates too much on the Americans. The more wacky the movie tries to be, the less funny it actually is. It's a funhouse without the fun. This is written and directed by Neil Jordan. It's possibly the low point of his career. Broad comedy isn't his thing.

Dunham16 This tongue in cheek horror movie contains elements of romantic comedy. The failed proprietor of a run down castle in Ireland attempts to save the property by inventing a haunting aura for tourists. The phoney props do not work and the tourists revolt. This uprising annoys the ghosts actually inhabiting the castle who stage a genuine haunting for Hallowe'en. Some serious horror is mixed into a fantasy plot ending with two mixed couples, one an eighteenth century ghost the other an American tourist. There are well done elements of romance, of comedy horror spoof, of physical comedy, of nostalgic Ireland and of genuine horror creating a well acted mix which pleases throughout.v

elshikh4 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.

geraldinescloset I have never seen "High Spirits" before, but as soon as I started watching it, the plot seemed very familiar in spots. Is there anyplace that tells the origin of movie plots? I remember watching a movie called "the clock" which was later remade into a movie with Robert Wager(can't remember the name of the newer film), but no one ever mentioned that it was a remake, but the plots were almost identical. Don't filmmakers have to give credit to originals? I'm sure I have seen this movie before in a much earlier version (1940's - 1950's?). I couldn't find out anything previous to the 1988 version researching online. Does any one know what the name of the earlier movie is, or the date it was made? Or maybe I'm just going crazy! Please let me know if you know anything about the original story. Thanks