High Spirits

Synopsis: 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.
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Director(s): Neil Jordan
Production: Media Home Entertainment
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
5.7
Rotten Tomatoes:
23%
PG-13
Year:
1988
99 min
714 Views


Mr. Brogan...

I assume you've called in regard

to the mortgage payment...

on Castle Plunkett,

unfortunately still delayed...

by what seems to be

our endless postal strike.

Dear sir, I must

once again remind you...

my first name is not "Dick,"

nor is my last name "Face."

It is simply Peter.

Peter Plunkett.

No, I was not given

a middle name...

but had I been,

I feel certain...

my mother

would not have chosen...

"Low-life Sh*t-for-brains

Peckerhead."

You obviously know

a side of Mother...

I have been happily

sheltered from.

Nevertheless, I marvel

at your colorfully creative...

ever-so-American

colloquialisms...

which flow so grippingly

from your razorlike tongue.

The hotel is in

tiptop condition...

the renovations

are proceeding at a...

What? Why shouldn't I bother?

Peter, who are you calling?

Oh, Mother! Will you please

get off the line?

Turning the castle

into a theme park?

"Irish World"?

Gee, what an interesting notion.

In where? In Malibu?

What is Malibu?

I see. You want to move

the castle to Malibu...

which, I am to presume,

lies on the western corner...

of those United States.

Mr. Brogan, if I cannot

send your payment...

how on earth do you expect...

to transport an entire castle

across the sea?

The number of stamps alone

is mind-boggling!

But I can assure you,

Mr. Brogan...

that if it goes on

much longer...

I will take this check

which I am holding in my hand...

and personally ferry it

across the water to England...

and mail it to you myself.

That's how much I care.

What postal strike?

Shut up, Mother!

I don't think

that kind of language...

is necessary, Mr. Brogan.

Understandable, but...

So, what you're saying...

is that if I don't come up with

the money in three weeks...

you will foreclose

and take over Castle Plunkett.

I see.

Have you heard of the quality

of mercy, Mr. Brogan?

You haven't read

your Shakespeare, Mr. Brogan.

Good-bye.

There you are!

Taking the easy way out.

You naughty boy!

Mother, this is not easy.

It is very, very difficult.

Just because you haven't got

a guest in the place...

you're in hock

to that fellow Brogan.

Your father's so worried,

he's tearing his hair out!

Mother, father has been dead

for a decade.

And what about

your grandmother?

How do you think she feels?

Mother,

grandmother is dead, too.

She's still upset.

Very well.

I apologize profoundly...

to the ghosts of my ancestors...

for making a mess

of their ancestral home.

Hold that.

I'm not gonna help you.

How many ghosts are there here?

There's Great Auntie Nana

and Uncle Toby...

and that nice

Elizabethan lady...

and the nun who was walled

into the closet...

and Oliver's bastard, who never

came out of the library.

Mother.

- What, darling?

- What a wonderful idea.

- What, darling?

- Ghosts.

Ghosts?

Ghosts.

A wonderful tourist attraction.

Katie!

Katie, take this down.

Castle Plunkett...

the superbly-restored edifice

in the heart...

of the incomparably beautiful

Irish countryside.

Also known to be

the most haunted place...

on the Emerald Isle!

Here, the dead

outnumber the living!

This castle contains

more ghouls, ghosties...

long-leggedy beasties...

and things

that go bump in the night...

than on any other place

in this revolving, revolting...

maggot-spinning earth!

We can promise you

banshees, pookas...

ghouls of all descriptions.

The one thing we won't promise

is a good night's sleep.

There are no bloody ghosts here.

I know, but there will be.

We'll invent them.

Yes, Mr. Wilson...

the accommodations

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Neil Jordan

Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish film director, screenwriter and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game. He also won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival for The Butcher Boy. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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