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A lot of fun.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Blistering performances.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

After all this time.. I finally found the name and the lyrics to the folk song the lady sings in the performance hall early in the film.. I won't spoil any other details, but this information was almost impossible to find and is not listed on the OST even on Amazon until now..The song was written by Thomas Moore and is entitled " Oft In The Stilly Night " and here are the lyrics for all who want to and need to know like I did..When I remember, All friends link'd together, I've seen around me, Fall like leaves in winter; I feel like one, Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed! Thus, in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain hath bound me, Fond Memory brings the light Of other days around me.This version was paraphrased for this particular rendition as the original has twice the amt of words, but it is none the less one of the most lovely and enchanting tracks int he entire film.. This movie is one I tend to watch not only periodically, but oft times more than twice in a row.. such a classic.. Bless you Peter O'Toole.. We miss you.. Rest well..Namaste...Q.

The proprietor of a run-down British castle unleashes the long dormant ghosts of his odd family when he creates a phony facade of spirits. Veteran star Peter O'Toole gives a charming performance as the owner with the wonderfully eccentric Liz Smith as his dotty mother, the only person aware of the ghosts. That is until snooty Beverly D'Angelo arrives with the intention of claiming it. Her neglected husband (Steve Guttenberg) begins to see a ghostly murder repeated over and over, and his interference changes the course of history at the castle. Harmless fun, this popcorn film is a modern day "Canterville Ghost" that has plenty of laughs, a lot of romance, and a few scares. Handsome Peter Gallagher (as a priest who has not taken his final vows) and vinegary voiced Jennifer Tilly appear in smaller roles that serve no purpose although the flying bed that Tilly is on ended up on the original poster.I discovered Liz Smith (no relation to the famous New York columnist) in the late 80's when she made a slew of British produced movies released to American audiences, and fell absolutely in love with her. She reminded me of a slightly classier Hermoine Baddley. Gorgeous Darryl Hannah and rugged Liam Neeson are excellent as the ghosts who surprisingly find love with the mortals haunting their ancestral home. D'Angelo, one of the wonders of the 80's (because I always wonder what happened to her until I investigated after seeing this movie again!), is beautiful, snooty, imperious, funny, and riveting. The only acting disappointment for me was Guttenberg whose acting style seems oddly out of place from the rest of the cast. While this will be greatly compared to other supernatural comedies such as "Beetlejuice" and "Hocus Pocus" (as well as the disastrous "Haunted Honeymoon"), it is still fun on its own merits.

An Irish castle is about to be foreclosed on and sold to an American developer, but the head of the household (Peter O'Toole) devises a plan to present the castle as haunted and lure in tourists. But when the spirits of his ancestors catch wind of the foreclosure, they take matters in to their own hands.This film is Peter O'Toole. If you like him, like his accent or whatever about him, you might like this film... but beyond that, it's a bit of a flop. Steve Guttenberg is here after his career peaked, Daryl Hannah described as beautiful but looking nasty, Peter Gallagher in a humorous but small role and Liam Neeson in makeup not really allowing his talent to shine.As a comedy, the film does not have much to offer. As a horror film, it has even less. It may be sort of a romantic comedy, but not really... the story just does not go anywhere. I find most of the supporting cast annoying or unnecessary, and it strikes me as an excuse to cast Irish actors and bring some revenue to Ireland... but this film even fails as a tourism promotion.I won't say I entirely disliked it. It was watchable, and even though I think the plot was a bit inconsistent at times (can ghosts touch people or not?) it was an interesting idea. Probably not original... probably not even a little bit. But still sort of fun in an 80s way.I had never heard of this film before my girlfriend pulled it out of a box of old VHS tapes... and now I'm not surprised. It was a good time sharing a childhood memory with her, but I can see why the film has been forgotten. So many more films have been made since, quite a film of them better, that it's not likely you will go out of your way to see this one and I don't encourage you to do so.

This is entertaining from both theatrical and cinematic point of view. It's a very rare time to witness the comic side of director (Neil Jordan) the guy who would direct later a chain of very serious and cheerless films in the 1990s like for instances Interview with the Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1996), or The End of the Affair (1999). So to perfect such a fantastic romantic comedy as cheery, tumultuous and simple as this, is something really wired and historical for him.Actually it's more like an old ghost story collides with any wacky comedy from the 1930s' cinema, yet achieving an originality that makes it one of the 1980s' nicest flicks. The cast was perfect. Forget that (Darryl Hannah) was at her worst, because even that can't take from the movie's high light personality. The wonderful showy efforts of (Peter O'Toole) accorded with this atmosphere and harmonized with it. He was loose as the defeated miserable drunken Peter Plunkett, adding a tasty flavor to the character's bitterly sarcastic way, being a treat to watch apart since there are not many comedic precedents in (O'Toole)'s career. Btw, I refuse to accept the dim-witted remarks about him here as he was playing himself. Because aside from that as something I don't buy, he was too good in his role to be a miserable defeated actor by all means.The comedy is swift, the pace is crazy, and the sets are inspiring. There is a certain delight and bright sense all over the movie. The sexiness is over-the-top with mega-gorgeous babes : (Beverly D'Angelo) was outrageously sexy, (Jennifer Tilly) isn't bad herself, and even an extra by the name of (Hilary Reynolds), who played near to silent maid, fascinated me utterly. It even managed to have a genuine tender message as well about true love and how it brings life to everyone and everything around. I liked the frisky end where every soul met its fair match. Makes you wish : if life was like this ! There are sensitive bits, or so droll to cartonnish extent, that push me to rethink : who was exactly the man that directed the list of movies that I mentioned previously ?!! (Jordan) himself has always maintained that the released version of this movie is very different from the one he shot, insisting that his version is still locked away in a vault. According to long experience with (Jordan)'s other works (in fact all of them !), I say keep it in the vault, this one is satisfying as it is. Thanks to the funny spirit whoever made it anyway. Because when it comes to an entertaining movie, I find nothing to ask more than what this one has.