Peter O'Toole is a hoot as the harried owner / operator of a run-down Irish castle. Since he is in dire straits financially, he decides on a gimmick: turn the castle into a ghost-themed tourist attraction. Soon, a bunch of customers from America have turned up, including married couple Jack and Sharon (Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D'Angelo), a parapsychologist (Martin Ferrero) and his family, a young priest (Peter Gallagher), and a ditsy sexpot (the one and only Jennifer Tilly). What happens is that some honest-to-God real ghosts show up, chief among them Mary and Martin (Daryl Hannah and Liam Neeson), who have been re-enacting his murder of her for almost 200 years now.While this viewer is glad that some people do take great pleasure in "High Spirits", he found it a tedious mess often lacking in wit. It has a lot of spirit (pardon the expression) as it devises various frantic and farcical moments, but the material just isn't that great. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed for many of the actors, who frequently have to try too hard to make it all work. (The cast would charge that the producers were the ones that ruined the thing with their meddling and trashing of writer / director Neil Jordans' ("The Crying Game") good intentions.) The visual effects are variable, and production designer Anton Furst ("Batman" '89) creates some generally agreeable sets. A real castle in Ireland was also utilized, and there's some effective atmosphere generated from the location shooting that was done. The wind machine certainly goes full-blast at times.Some actors come off better than others. O'Toole, Neeson, and Ray McAnally (as O'Tooles' ghostly father) are pretty amusing, and as you can see, there are some very lovely ladies on hand. The less said about Guttenberg, the better.Overall, a disappointment, although it does tend to get somewhat better as it goes along.Four out of 10.

This film is generally acknowledged even by its director as a mess - I didn't realise that, according to Neil Jordan, there are the foundations of a better film still in the vault - but watching it over this Halloween I found it better than I remembered it. There are some wonderful, lyrical scenes and settings (f'rinstance, Darryl Hannah's heart-stoppingly beautiful, doomed ghost maiden praying beside a lovely Irish lake before a tree decorated with prayer ribbons in honour of Saint Bridget, a beautiful and memorable scene) but all too many scenes which wouldn't have passed muster in a beginner's class of creative writing. In their prime, Beverly D'Angelo and Darryl Hannah were so hot!The young Darryl Hannah, also in Steve Martin's comedy romance Roxanne only the previous year, was heart-stoppingly gorgeous, as I say. And that bedroom scene between her character and that of Steve Guttenberg - I was astonished I had forgot it - smoked and sizzled; it was positively X-rated!I am glad that the guy gets the girl and that through some magical transformation Hannah's previously doomed madchen doesn't remain a two-hundred year old corpse but was rejuvenated into all her youthful loveliness! Well, true love has it limits!I can't see actor Liam Neeson now, as I am sure many others cannot, without thinking of the tragic death of his wife Natasha Richardson, may she rest in peace.You could see that by 1988 the once gloriously handsome Peter O'Toole had started to lose his looks, ruined not so much by age as hell-raising. Had he lived more soberly, in every sense of the word, he could have been as silvery a silver fox as Cary Grant. But he was still an arch and magisterial presence in the film. I like the line at the end of the film. Happiness makes you better at dancing.

Daryl Hannah is dynamite, as are Beverly D'Angelo and Jennifer Tilly. A lot of diaphanous-see-thru dress material here! Peter O'Toole plays a "proper Irish Drunk" with great abandon. Steve Gutenberg is married to Beverly, but she falls in love with a ghost and so does he. It's a typical fake haunted house story at first with a romantic twist. Poor old Peter, not realizing that the castle really is quite haunted, tries to attract "stupid" American tourists to the old place, with fake ghosts and gimmicks. The real ghosts then interact with the living. (Peter's "Mum" has "visits" with her husband's ghost!) A good "old-fashioned fairy tale" ending where upon 4 people find true love as "happily-ever-after" ghosts and humans. It's complicated. A true guilty pleasure. Of course it was a bomb with the critics and box office. It looks and sounds much better on Blu-Ray as a double feature with "Vampire's Kiss" a "stinker" Nicolas Cage film. Not available on it's own. First seen on "free TV" where it was truly cut to pieces and edited for time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Peter O'Toole is wonderful as are the remainder of the actors. This movie is part of my DVD collection.It's a screwball comedy about what people will do to try to save their livelihood, marriages, etc. Some of the situations that the characters find themselves in are a bit corny; however, they are still funny. It's also somewhat of a ghostly movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending.If you've ever lived in England, Ireland, or Scotland, the characters in this movie will remind you warmly of those people.It is a movie that you can sit down with the family and some popcorn and enjoy.