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.

I saw this film at the Imagine film festival 2013 in Amsterdam. Beforehand I was a bit skeptical about seeing this one, fearing that the wandering ghosts were the result of some prom intrigues going bad in 1986. The rituals around a prom, where popularity and physical appearance are important factors for the students involved, can easily lead to hate and destructive actions. This could have been the cause of the high school fire we read about in the synopsis.

It worked out very differently and much better, after all. Can it be my age that I'm not at least interested anymore in those juvenile "survival of the fittest" struggles, being the subject of many TV series and movies already?? Of course, we see a bit of that, but it is far from the main course of this movie.

Anyway, our main character (Modesto) is a high school teacher who sees ghosts all around. Even the psych he regularly visits to get rid of this problem, has a ghost of his own in the office. That is his father who committed suicide, and nowadays has no choice other than observing day after day that his son has no professional talent whatsoever. And since the father was also a psych by profession, he often disagrees with the therapies prescribed by his son, but cannot do anything about it. Except when Modesto visits, of course, in which case we see a strange, often hilarious triangular interaction: Modesto can interact with both of them, can respond to what the father says, after which the son thinks that Modesto does not agree with the therapy he is advocating. This is a perfect example of the issues Modesto has to cope with, and also illustrates how this is used effectively in this movie.

The first time we meet the five high school ghosts is when Modesto is misguided while looking for the room where he should teach classes, but is wrongly directed by one of the "normal" students. The five ghosts have a habit of scaring people passing by. We see some of their usual pranks in flashbacks, making it understandable that this part of the school is abandoned, left more or less "as is" after the school fire. But Modesto is the first one who does not seem scared at all. It takes some time for all of them to realize what is going on.

It is popular belief that wandering ghosts come to rest when they can deal with some "unfinished business". Modesto assumes that missing their final exam is the reason that the five ghosts still wander around and cannot leave the school grounds. Hence he prepares them, after initial resistance of some, for their final exam. After several months of intensive teaching and studying, not all of them pass with flying colors, but the effort was commendable on itself. Does it end their wandering around?? Can it be construed as a spoiler when I say that their problem still persists?? Not at all, since the story has not ended by far, and there is more work ahead.

It is not useful to condense the rest of the story here. The simple fact that how the story ends is not important in itself, rather the path that leads to their eventual release. Important contributing roles are reserved for the head mistress, the chairwoman of the school board, a self appointed "personal assistant" of the head mistress who thinks he knows how to change the school for the better, and many more people who all make this an entertaining movie, hilarious throughout, even including three very moving scenes (tear jerking, in the positive sense of the word). The festival visitors gave this film the highest place (well deserved in my opinion) with average score 8.91 for the audience award.

All in all, it may be unpretentious entertainment but it is well made, and the actors perform very well in their respective roles. Some people may seem portrayed as one dimensional, but even the chairwoman of the school board loosens up with the right music, showing she has other sides. The latter is just an example, but it demonstrates how the 88 minutes running time of this movie is over before you know it. Similarly, the character differences of the five ghosts are outlined very well, also showing they are very well capable of working together when the need arises.

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 .