With a bouncy score in the background (similar to the more famous "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"), we learn the secret of this New England set of ghosts all killed and destined to spend eternity together in 1898. The ghastly looking Cass Daley, desperate for a husband, marries a sea captain desperate to inherit her estate and a bigger ship, and on their wedding night discovers him being a rascal. Butcher knives fly and before you know it, three are dead, their ghostly images doomed to roam the earth until Daley (believe it or not!) looses her virginity! These ghosts aren't like the sea captain from "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"; the earthlings who come into their presence can actually feel them, not only metaphysically but flesh-wise as well. Almost 70 years after the Maine coastline murder, the ailing Sid Caesar and his wife Vera Miles show up with their embittered teenaged son (Barry Gordon) for a "rest" and when Gordon encounters each of them, pots are thrown through windows, the living room is made a mess and Miles' meddling uncle (John McGiver) is pushed down a flight of stairs, all of the blame put on the innocent teen. The adults don't believe the legend until they meet the look-alike of one of them (Jill Townsend) who explains the story, and from there, Gordon is determined to end the curse, find the ghostly Daley a mate and convince his parents he was innocent of all the mischief they blamed him for. A superb supporting cast includes such fun faces as Jesse White, Mary Wickes and Jay C. Flippen. Wickes proves how perfect she could have been as Tugboat Annie as the rather tough but legend-spouting caretaker who eerily reveals her situation when encountered by the ghosts. She totally reminded me of the famous "Large Marge" sequence from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" as her story gets more and more dramatic. John Astin of "The Addams Family" plays a visitor who has his share of gay insinuations with Gordon and Astin each believing the other may be living an alternative life-style. The inclusion of this is subtle and not offensive, and amusing through each of them making light-hearted cracks at the other's expense.While not a classic in the comedy horror genre of films like "Arsenic and Old Lace" and the "Topper" series, this is a very amusing film and one of William Castle's better later efforts. Everybody seems to be having a great time, the sets and location photography are ideal, and that musical score by Vic Mizzy (who had earlier wrote the score to "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" as well as several 60's cult classics) will stay in your head long after the movie is over.

Most of director William Castle's later films were really not very good. While The Spirit Is Willing is fun; it is not particularly good - or brazenly funny. But it does have some funny scenes. The premise is that three ghosts, one an ugly heiress who marries a ship's captain, two, the said captain who wed this woman solely for her property, and thirdly, a pretty blonde maid with all the appropriate trimmings, have all been caught up in a love triangle the night of the first two's wedding. She(the heiress) avenges herself by hatcheting them, but not quite enough as her husband has time to return the favor. Three ghosts then materialize and the film credits begin to show us in drawings all the people that have come and gone from this haunted house. Whilst this goes on, the music of Vic Mizzy plays - and make no mistake - it is easily the most memorable thing about this film. I saw this probably twenty years plus ago and all I really remembered prior to watching it again was that it had a very catchy tune. It does. As I watched much of the film returned to my memory. Sid Caesar, lovely Vera Miles, and sometime annoying Barry Gordon(their son) rent this house. All the villagers are afraid, etc... basic stuff we would get from such films, but here we get them with a somewhat heavy-handed attempt at comedic direction from Castle. Much of it is just plain silly. What I do like about the film is that it has some good acting despite the material AND a host of small character actors given some flexibility here. Mary Wickes, Nestor Paiva, Jay. C. Flippen, Jesse White, and John Astin are in here. Astin is particularly funny. But for me, the best performance goes to that underrated performer John McGiver who knows the nuances of language about as well as any performer. I love to hear him talk. Here he plays a rich uncle who believes money is the answer to everything. The ghosts are really pretty lame, and not all that funny. But the pretty blonde, played by young, gorgeous, hot Jill Townsend is major eye candy, and she plays two other roles. She really is quite a good actress. Lots of farcial stuff here like revving up the camera speed in scenes, reverse motion here and there, and a situational comedy approach to story, direction, and just about everything else. It is not a bad movie, and I truly did enjoy seeing it again. I will not; however, confuse nostalgia with excellence. Sometimes they go hand in hand. Sometimes they do not.

Nathaniel Benchley (son of humorist Robert Benchley) wrote The Visitors, a frightening novel about a ghostly haunting, which was purchased for filming by legendary Hollywood showman William Castle.Castle, who had yet to attain respect as producer (but not director) of Roman Polanski's masterly Rosemary's Baby (1968), had recently completed a successful string of blatant imitations of Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), including Homicidal (1961) and Strait-Jacket (1964), and had stumbled with a pair of inept teen-thrillers, I Saw What You Did (1965) and Let's Kill Uncle (1966). Evidently seeking to expand his audience while maintaining his position as king of schlock horror, Castle re-visioned Benchley's decidedly adult novel as a family comedy along the lines of his bland 13 Ghosts (1960). Unfortunately, Castle was hopeless as a comedy director, as his overly-broad Hammer remake of The Old Dark House (1963) had demonstrated. Humor had been an essential underlying element of Castle's most successful earlier films, The House on Haunted Hill (1958) and The Tingler (1959), but this had been supplied by star Vincent Price and the ironic wit of screenwriter Robb White rather than any knack on the part of the director. Castle persisted and The Spirit Is Willing descended into lazy slapstick, as did its black-comedy follow-up The Busy Body (1967), also starring Sid Caesar. In and of itself, The Spirit Is Willing is a fun little movie which today carries an aura of tacky nostalgia, but the golden opportunity for a chilling ghostly thriller along the lines of Robert Wise's classic The Haunting (1963) was recklessly thrown away.It behooves Dark Castle Entertainment, which has been remaking the Castle "classics", to consider a new, dramatic version of the Benchley novel. With the blockbuster success of films like The Sixth Sense, The Others and The Ring, the time is right for The Visitors to arrive.

I would love to see this movie again, I saw it once as a kid, and have always wanted to see it again. I wonder how much my perception has changed since then. I fear that I might think it's horrible now, compared to my fond childhood memory of it. Why do I think so highly of this film? I don't even know. That may be a question in itself. All I know is, the film couldn't have been so bad that they wouldn't put it out on video or DVD, hell they've put everything else out. If anybody knows how I can see this film again please notify me. . It was very nice to read the other comments from other people who liked this film as well. Now, suddenly I don't feel so alone in the universe.-Joe