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:

A Hauntingly Funny Comedy!

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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

The champagne levels in the glasses during Jack and Mary's romantic evening scene change at every shot.

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Quotes

Sharon: [looks over the seat at Brother Tony after everyone's clothing has been ripped off] Oh! So all the snakes weren't driven out of Ireland.
Brother Tony: What?
[trying to cover himself]
Sharon: Snakes. ha ha ha ha
[laughing hysterically]

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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

References A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

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Soundtracks

Sinister Street Section
(uncredited)
Music by Peter Francklyn (i.e. Robert Gill)
De Wolfe Music Ltd

User Reviews

Amazing

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.