6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The owner of an Irish castle decides to attract visitors by falsely claiming that the building is haunted, only to have a pair of real ancestral spirits start causing trouble...
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Donal McCann, Mary Coughlan, Liz Smith (I), Tom HickeyComedy | 100% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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.
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' 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.
There are no supplements on the High Spirits "side" of this double feature Blu-ray.
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.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1986
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1984
2013
2013
Collector's Edition
1984
Uncut
2003
2014
Unrated
2013
1985
2013
1989
MVD Rewind Collection
1988
1940
1939
2014
1992
1986
2019
2018
Collector's Edition
1981