Ghost Academy

Saw this movie at the Miami International Film Festival. It was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen in a long time! The Spaniards definitely do humor the best!!! Props to the actors, they were so true to their characters. You can't help but fall in love with them! The filming was spot on. The Directing was visionary & quite intelligent. The scenes were flawless.The timing was perfect for the jokes. The writing/dialogue was witty, smart, charming & absolutely hilarious!!!! Everyone at the theater was laughing so hard & non-stop, including myself. The music was great! Brought me back to my high school days!I enjoyed it tremendously!!! I would recommend this movie highly!

First of all, I must say that the 2012 movie "Promoción Fantasma" (aka "Ghost Graduation") turned out to be much more enjoyable and entertaining than what I had initially expected.

With that being said, then I was fortunate enough to get to sit down in 2021 to watch the 2012 movie "Promoción Fantasma" and took the time to watch it as I hadn't already seen it. I hadn't even heard about it, though, but the synopsis made it seem like it was going to be one of those a dime a dozen type of comedies that are spewed out frequently. But still, I opted to sit down and watch this comedy from writers Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor.

Director Javier Ruiz Caldera did a good job at bringing the storyline to life on the screen, and it definitely made for an enjoyable movie to watch. And not only was the storyline well-written and interesting to watch, but the movie's character gallery definitely lifted up the movie quite a bit, as the characters were well-rounded and memorable.

This is not, however, a type of comedy that will have you sitting holding your tummy from laughing and wiping away tears. No, this movie uses subtle comedy, but well-timed and well-delivered comedy that helped to promote the storyline and build the characters.

"Promoción Fantasma" is a movie that is well-worth the time and effort, so if you find yourself with the opportunity to watch this 2012 movie, then do so. This is a movie that I can warmly recommend.

My rating of "Promoción Fantasma" lands on a six out of ten stars.

It's a hilarious ghost movie with memorable scenes and deep meanings. The story was original and the final result feels well-crafted. I will definitely see it again.

Amusing and funny picture starred by Raul Arévalo who along with are Imma Cuesta and Quim Gutiérrez are new kings of Spanish comedy . This is a fast crazy movie with lot of fun situations , antics , bemusement and with a bunch of very hilarious roles . This is another Spanish comedy romp , it is a bemusing story that contains humorous moments , entertainment , binge and involving a young literature teacher and his supernatural students who died by an unfortunate firing . The film starts in an opening and closing with a prom scene ; at the beginning we see a wallflower boy sitting at the edges of the crowd during a slow dance, soon the crowd parts, and he sees his dream girl, hair flowing in slow motion driven by some magical breeze , he reaches towards her, the two embrace, their orthodontically-augmented teeth clinking as they kiss , then cut to see that he's embracing nothing but air, with entire rows of fellow . As it deals with a teacher named Modesto (Raul Arévalo) with paranormal abilities . Modesto sees dead people and he has spent amount of money in psychiatrists . Regular visits to a psychiatrist only seem to make matters worse , not least because Modesto is distracted by his fantastic apparitions (Luis Varela) . He is fired from several schools , but his luck changes when he gets a job in Monforte High School . There Modesto helps a group of five ghosts graduate high school . They are the followings : Pinfloy (Javier Bódalo) , Ángela (Anna Castillo) , Dani (Alex Maruny), Jorge (Jaime Olías) and Mariví (Andrea Duro) . Meanwhile , Modesto falls in love for the school Principal (Alexandra Jimenez) . Hell is being stuck in high school, forever.

Nice and uplifting Spanish romantic comedy with crazy events , amusement and absurd situations . This entertaining film packs amusement , fantastic events , slapstick , comical situations , tongue-in-cheek , surrealist comedy including conventional pitfalls and many other things . Sitting in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the stylishly cool . Ghost Graduation ('Promoción Fantasma') revisits the American high-school movies of the Eighties, emerging like a cross between Ghostbusters and The Breakfast Club with more than just a dance montage as a nod to the latter . This is a hilarious flick , surrealist , extreme spoof and gross-out but also is intelligent and bold . This fantasy film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable , with more traps the viewer resists any kind, and some moments of enjoyment and others quite a few ridiculous . The characters are quite odd , grotesque and rare and the film races on at incredible speed . Dirty humor is sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty and picaresque situations such as sex jokes , bad taste and adult scenes , especially on his final part when Otegui/Carlos Areces appears at high school reunion and haunted by a ghost-boy he speaks abounding sexual references . My feelings are extremely mixed but I must admit there are things I haven't been able to stop laughing about ; however , it also contains uneven comedy , piggy humor , profanity and grossed themes . A few of the scenes are amusing , they elicit chuckles but no very enjoyable laughters . The films remarks are numerous and provide silly laughs taking bits here and there from American films such as ¨American pie¨, ¨Porkys¨ , ¨Ghost¨ , ¨Ghostbusters¨ and especially , an unabashed love letter to the cinema of John Hughes for good measure . Our humble, hangdog hero is Modesto well performed by Raúl Arévalo, a high school teacher plagued with the ability to see the dead , rather than realise his gift, he instead begins to worry that he's losing his mind . The picture provides loads of fun here and a passel of cameo appearances as Luis Varela ,Joaquín Reyes , Elena Irureta and Sílvia Abril . And appearance of young newcomers with much future such as Andrea Duro of Juan De Los Muertos and Aura Garrido of Ministerio Del Tiempo .

Colorful and luxurious cinematography by Arnau Valls Colomer who has photographed successes as ¨Eva¨, "Here's the Deal" ,¨Three many weddings¨ , among others . Evocative musical score by Javier Rodero , including songs of the eighties sung by Mecano , Shakira , Radio Futura's ¨Enamorado De La Moda Juvenil¨ and particularly Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart . The motion picture was well directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera . He was born in Barcelona and is a good director and editor , he realized some Shorts and being expert on comedies , especially known for Spanish Movie (2009) , Promoción Fantasma (2012) and Tres Bodas De Mas or 3 many wedding (2013) . Furthermore , he is preparing Anacleto Agente Secreto (in post-production) and SuperLopez . The motion picture will appeal to lunatic humor and absurd comedy enthusiasts .

Simple comedy yet done excellent if you like different than standard American comedies. Excellent script, wonderful music, clichés played with self-irony, fast pace, keeps you engaged and involved gladly. Good fun, leaves you with a smile and good feeling inside. No development of characters or such. Instead - smart, simple and fun. Has the looks of a 1980's movies and spirit. Do not expect more - no drama, no horror, no thriller either. Does not teach you or address morality or hidden messages. Don't know what else to say to complete the necessary 10 lines for a review. Really simple and fun. If you into such kind of movies - Enjoy! :)