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 and married. She's a ghost and gorgeous. 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

The fish on the table is whistling "rakes of mallow"

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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

Katie: But there are no bloody ghosts here!
Peter Plunkett: I know, but there will be. We'll invent them!

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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

Featured in Irish Cinema: Ourselves Alone? (1995)

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Soundtracks

She Is Far From The Land
(uncredited)
Music by Frank Lambert
Words by Thomas Moore
Arranged by George Fenton

User Reviews

Glue can't hold everything, but it does its share...

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.