High Spirits (1988)

When a hotelier attempts to fill the chronic vacancies at his castle by launching an advertising campaign that falsely portrays the property as haunted, two actual ghosts show up and end up falling for two guests.

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writer:

Neil Jordan

Stars:

Peter O'Toole, Daryl Hannah, Steve Guttenberg

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter O'Toole	...	Peter Plunkett
Donal McCann	...	Eamon
Mary Coughlan	...	Katie
Liz Smith	...	Mrs. Plunkett
Tom Hickey	...	Sampson
Tony Rohr	...	Christy
Hilary Reynolds	...	Patricia
Isolde Cazelet	...	Julia
Little John Nee	...	Gateman (as Little John)
Steve Guttenberg	...	Jack Crawford
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Sharon Brogan Crawford
Jennifer Tilly	...	Miranda
Peter Gallagher	...	Brother Tony
Martin Ferrero	...	Malcolm
Connie Booth	...	Marge

Storyline

When Peter Plunkett's Irish castle turned hotel is about to be repossesed, he decides to spice up the attraction a bit for the 'Yanks' by having his staff pretend to haunt the castle. The trouble begins when a busload of American tourists arrive - along with some real ghosts. Among the tourists are married couple Jack and Sharon. Sharon's father holds the mortgage on Castle Plunkett, so she's hoping to debunk the ghosts. Jack, on the other hand, after meeting pretty ghost Mary, is very eager to believe. Can there be love between a human and ghost? Jack and Mary are going to try and find out.

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Plot Keywords:

haunting | passing through a wall | banshee | ghost | tourist | 

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Taglines:

He's an American. She's a ghost. Vacation romances are always a hassle.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Ireland UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hotel de los fantasmas

Filming Locations:

County Limerick, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,308,250, 20 November 1988, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$8,578,231

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vision PDG, Palace Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Sean Connery was offered the role of Peter Plunkett by the studio. He later dropped out of the film, and the role was re-cast with Peter O'Toole.

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Goofs

There's no explanation given as to why Mary and Martin would repeat the murder scene twice in one night, as we see when Jack stumbles upon them. Everywhere else in the film, Mary implies that she was killed once a night.

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Quotes

Peter Plunkett: [sees large bricks coming out of the wall behind him as he drinks] What is going on here? Eamon? Why are chunks of masonry floating about?

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Crazy Credits

The end credits show the cast under three headings, first 'The Irish', then 'The Americans', and finally 'The Ghosts'

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Alternate Versions

There exists a print of this film that was Neil Jordan's original vision of this movie. It contains a much more serious tone than the theatrical release, and is much more of a fun mystery. There is a lot more footage of Liam Neeson's character, and the ghosts are allowed to have much more of a plot, than in the theatrical release. Rumor has it, that when the studio saw this cut, they had no idea how to market it, so they had it re-cut against Neil Jordan's wishes (he was allegedly locked out of the editing room at this point). There was a shortened version of this cut available on video in Japan.

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Ghost Dad (2014)

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Soundtracks

Chantilly Lace
Words and Music by The Big Bopper (as J.P. Richardson)
Performed by The Big Bopper
Fort Knox Music Inc./Trio Music Co., Inc.
Administrated by Hudson Bay Music Inc./Glad Music Company
Courtesy of Polygram Records

User Reviews

Funny, romantic, sexy...what more can I say?

I love this movie! Its one of my favourites, and I have been trying to get it on video for ages, but its been deleted. Its hardly ever on telly either. Can't stand Steve Guttenburg unfortunately, but I love Liam Neeson! He's really sexy in his role as the ghostly Martin, pursuing the stubborn Sharon.

OK, so its not exactly "Gone With the Wind", and I'm sure it won't be to everyone's taste, but I personally think its really good, and funny. I love the way it looks as though it is on stage, much like a British pantomime. My favourite bit is undoubtedly the shower scene, but I also like it when Martin is chasing Sharon through the woods in the bus!