High Spirits (film)

Plot

Peter O'Toole is Peter Plunkett, the owner of a dilapidated Irish castle which has been converted to a bed and breakfast supplying the only employment for the local villagers. Owing money to an Irish-American businessman by the name of Brogan, Plunkett has the idea to turn the castle into "The most haunted castle in Europe" for the tourist trade, inspired by his mother's stories of the castle's history of ghost. He and his wacky staff of Irish characters set about creating ghost costumes and effects for their first group of American lodgers.

At first annoyed by the inept hauntings, the American guests (including Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Connie Booth, Peter Gallagher and Jennifer Tilly) soon get what they paid for as the genuine ghosts of Castle Plunkett take umbrage with being cheaply exploited and stage a full scale paranormal event.

The ghosts of two dead people, Mary Plunkett and Martin Brogan (played by Daryl Hannah and Liam Neeson) become romantically entangled with Guttenberg and D'Angelo's characters. This romantic twist is the focus of most of the plot.

Cast

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews. Daryl Hannah was nominated for a Razzie Award as Worst Supporting Actress, but lost to Kristy McNichol for Two Moon Junction.

Director Neil Jordan has always maintained that the release version of this film is very different from the one he shot. He was more or less excluded from the editing process of the final cut. He insists that his version is still locked away in a vault.

Release

Scream Factory released the film for the first time on Blu-ray Disc in 2015.It was packaged as a double feature with Vampire's Kiss on February 13, 2015.