Variety

High Spirits is a piece of supernatural Irish whimsy with a few appealing dark underpinnings, but it still rises and falls constantly on the basis of its moment-to-moment inspirations.

The New York Times by Janet Maslin

Luckily, High Spirits has a good cast and enough joie de vivre to rise above some of its underlying clumsiness.

Empire by William Thomas

It's safe, it's mainstream and it's silly, but Guttenberg and Hannah strike up enough chemistry to give this big budget apparition at least a little depth.

TV Guide Magazine

Despite considerable production support and a relatively high budget (it was shot on location in Ireland and on a massive interior set at England's famed Shepperton studios), this is easily the weakest effort in director-screenwriter Jordan's solid career.

Miami Herald by Juan Carlos Coto

Jordan's jokes are sometimes stereotypical barbs tossed at Americans, but the Irish director definitely can inject hackneyed Hollywood devices with high-spirited fun. Be warned, though, you'll have to stomach some dismal scenes between Hannah and Guttenberg -- the biggest stiffs in this movie. [18 Nov 1988, p.D8]

Chicago Tribune by Dave Kehr

The film shows very little of the nar-rative assurance that has character-ized Jordan's previous work. [21 Nov 1988, p.2C]

Washington Post by Rita Kempley

Writer-director Neil Jordan shows no knack for comedy, nor is he as kinky as he was on Mona Lisa, and kinky is what is called for.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

The American big-movie sex comedy conventions overwhelm Jordan’s liberating poetry, his wild lyricism.

Time Out

The script seems a collection of loose ends and rewrites; the direction is deeply dispirited; and with the exception of O'Toole and a couple of engaging vignettes, it's a complete turkey.

Boston Globe by Jay Carr

Neil Jordan's High Spirits wants to be a supernatural comedy. But it isn't super, it isn't natural, it isn't high, and it isn't spirited. [18 Nov 1988, p.33]