Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

High Spirits Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2015

Note: This film is currently available as part of the double feature Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits.

There are various kinds of overacting, and two of them are on display in the odd combination of two films from 1988 that have little other than their year of genesis in common, Vampire's Kiss and High Spirits. Nicolas Cage is the hyperbolically inclined performer of the former, while Peter O’Toole indulges in his patented brand of late career scenery chewing in the second. The difference in techniques makes for an interesting study in contrasts and, not so coincidentally, enjoyment. Cage, an actor who is an acquired taste for many, is seemingly content to eschew any semblance of realism, or at least what any rational person would describe as realism, in his portrayal of unhinged literary agent Peter Loew, a guy who only becomes more deranged once he becomes convinced he’s been “turned” into a vampire. O’Toole, who at this point in his long film career, was often content to coast on charisma and a certain winking hamminess, plays forlorn castle owner Peter Plunkett in the early Neil Jordan effort High Spirits (not to be confused with the musical version of Coward’s Blithe Spirit). Plunkett, like many landed gentry witnessing a sea change in society and economy (see Downton Abbey) decides on a scheme to save his ramshackle fortress by advertising it as haunted, hoping to bring in a lucrative tourist trade. Of course, the joke turns out to be that Plunkett’s abode really is haunted. Both Cage and O'Toole are completely self indulgent in their respective films, but while watching Cage is something like not being able to avert one's eyes from a horrific train wreck, there's a simple exuberant silliness emanating from O'Toole that at least makes his focus pulling tolerable.

Neil Jordan would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Crying Game, a film whose title some wags might have attributed to Jordan’s understandable reaction to having tried to work in Hollywood after the success of Mona Lisa. High Spirits was the first film in this brief struggle to conform to the vagaries of the American film business, and the movie often plays like a cinematic version of trying to stuff a square peg into a round hole. A lot of Jordan’s natural ebullience wafts through the film, at least in dribs and drabs, but the screenplay is rather haphazard, something that keeps the more farcical elements from ever erupting into total hilarity.

Many of the elements of a traditional bedroom farce are firmly in place in High Spirits. There’s the desperate innkeeper (O’Toole, of course), surrounded by a gaggle of eccentric Irish help, and ultimately another gaggle of disparate American tourists. These include squabbling marrieds Jack (Steve Guttenberg) and Sharon (Beverly D’Angelo), a mousy voiced single girl (Jennifer Tilly) who has perhaps inappropriately carnal interest in a man about to become a priest (Peter Gallagher), and a parapsychologist (Martin Ferrero) and his family. When it turns out that Sharon is actually the daughter of the man trying to usurp control of the castle from Plunkett, there’s even more of a setup for schtick, since Plunkett has prepared a number of faux “hauntings” to keep his guests entertained.

But Jordan shows a certain inexperience in how all of these characters are introduced (especially the Irish help), and then further bifurcates the film’s momentum with the introduction of its fantasy element, when two principal ghosts, a married couple named Mary (Daryl Hannah) and Martin (Liam Neeson) whose marriage night ended in the murder of the bride, shows up and ultimately gets involved with Jack and Sharon. There are a couple of other “supporting ghosts” in attendance as well, making this a somewhat overstuffed affair that never has room to work up a consistently frenetic tone.

High Spirits was roundly lambasted when it was originally released, and quickly disappeared from local cineplexes. Seen now with a bit of perspective, it’s a fitfully charming piece that offers O’Toole in pure, unadulterated ham mode and a number of charming supporting players (including a wonderful Liz Smith as Mrs. Plunkett) adding a bit of local color to the proceedings. The film is ultimately too chaotic for its own good, and never quite captures enough whimsy to sustain its clunkier moments, but it offers a few scattered laughs and some lovely scenery.

High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

High Spirits is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Aside from some expected age related wear and tear, this is a nice looking transfer that is perhaps incrementally more impressive than its double feature sibling Vampire's Kiss (I'd be prone to give this a 3.75 score if I were able to). Colors are nicely saturated and accurate looking, and contrast and black levels are both consistent. The film has a lot of optical effects, and those bring an expected uptick in grain and (at times at least) dirt. There are no issues with image instability and the overall look of this presentation is nicely organic. There is one very peculiar glitch at around 30:16, when D'Angelo and Guttenberg are battling it out in a castle hall. All of a sudden in the middle of a D'Angelo line of dialogue, there's a digital hiccup, with a peculiar flash of white lines in the black bar beneath the image frame. Just the very tip of D'Angelo's line is compromised, and there's a brief stutter of the image itself.

High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

High Spirits' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track boasts excellent fidelity, though there are occasional mix anomalies that may be inherent to the source stems. The opening theme music, for example, seems buried underneath the rain effect that simultaneously opens the film. These moments are the exception to the rule, however, and generally both dialogue and score are presented very cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements on the High Spirits "side" of this double feature Blu-ray.

High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Parts of High Spirits are at the very least enjoyable, but the film, while colorful, doesn't set up its premise successfully enough to ultimately pay off in the comedy department. The fantasy elements are somewhat more evocative, but even here there's a certain tawdriness in the main story of a murderous husband and his long suffering (like centuries long) victim bride. Technical merits are generally strong, though there is one very peculiar anomaly that may upset some videophiles.