High Spirits 1988

Cash-strapped Peter Plunkett has transformed his crumbling family castle, Castle Plunkett, into a bed-and-breakfast after his father’s death a decade earlier, hoping to squeeze a last bit of life out of a fading Irish estate. Owing money to Irish-American businessman Jim Brogan, who threatens foreclosure unless a loan is paid within three weeks, Plunkett hatches a bold scheme: transform the castle into “the most haunted castle in Europe” to draw curious visitors from across the Atlantic. He enlists the help of his weary staff and relies on the legends spun by his mother, Lavinia, Liz Smith, whose stories paint the place as a stage for departed Plunkett ancestors.

Their first attempt at a staged haunting goes awry on opening night, and the guest Malcolm Clay is left suspicious while Jack Crawford, a cynical parapsychologist, learns of Plunkett’s dire financial predicament. Jack Crawford, Donal McCann soon finds himself entangled in a plot that not only threatens the castle’s future but also his own marriage, as his wife Sharon has used their second honeymoon with Jim to discuss business matters rather than romance. The situation grows more tangled when Jack encounters two real spirits: Mary, Plunkett’s six-times-great-grand cousin whom he admires, and her newly married husband Martin Brogan, who has a violent, jealous history with Mary that has repeated itself for nearly two centuries in a murderous loop.

The two ghosts renew the fatal reenactment every night, and Jack’s intrusion disrupts the cycle, drawing Mary’s fascination toward him. The haunted house becomes a real battleground of supernatural and human aims as Lavinia, still determined to save the family legacy, joins forces with the ghosts to stage a spectacular paranormal event that might turn the night into a salvation for the castle—and a chance at true love for the living and the dead.

As Halloween approaches, the ghostly ensemble intensifies their plan. The Americans are forcibly drawn back into the castle’s orbit through a cascade of supernatural disturbances: a thunderstorm manifests, telephones fail, and the living are shuttled back inside. Jack is spirited away to Mary’s side—literally to the spirit of her former life—where he learns the story of Mary’s unhappy marriage, arranged by her father, and the depth of the tragedy that binds them. Meanwhile, Sharon finds herself drawn to Martin, adding another layer of romance to a night that already teeters on the edge of catastrophe.

Lavinia ultimately passes Jack a crucial book that reveals a bizarre loophole: true love can restore the dead to life on Halloween night, provided the lovers do not have sex. When Halloween night finally arrives, Jack and Mary’s bond intensifies as a shared kiss acts as the catalyst that revives Mary, although she returns as a living but rotting corpse briefly—then reverts to youth after Jack bestows a kiss of true love. The morning light seems to bring resolution: Sharon dies in a fall, Mary vanishes again, and Jack discovers that the resurrected Mary is actually Mary wearing Sharon’s wedding dress while the real Sharon becomes a ghost in Mary’s attire. In a final twist, Jack and Mary share a renewed, hopeful connection, while Sharon, now a specter in Mary’s gown, bids goodbye with Martin as a couple dances with the two ghostly pairs.

Despite the otherworldly upheavals, the guests find plenty to enjoy, and Malcolm Clay’s endorsement leads him to promise to praise Plunkett’s castle as “the most haunted castle in the world.” This unusual night saves Castle Plunkett from foreclosure and secures the staff’s futures. In the aftermath, Jack chooses to stay, dancing with Mary and proposing, while Martin and Sharon appear as ghosts who join their lovers in a final, spectral waltz. Brother Tony, a priest there for a vacation before taking his final vows, resigns from the priesthood to pursue a romance with Miranda, adding a bittersweet thread to the evening’s discoveries. The film ends with the two couples sharing a dance as the castle’s legends resolve into a new, enduring love story that blends faith, forgiveness, and the strange magic found in Halloween nights.