Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989) movie poster

Plot Summary

Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
1989 · 90 mins · English
Loading streaming availability…
Directed by
John Derek
Starring
Anthony Quinn, Herb Tanney, Donald Trump, Bo Derek, Don Murray, Julie Newmar

After a fatal heart attack leaves him dying, elderly Scott commits suicide but returns as a vengeful ghost. He manipulates his beautiful, devoted young wife Kate, convincing her that only her longing can bring him back. He persuades her to select and murder a young man so Scott can inhabit the victim’s body and reunite with her in the mortal world.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Ghosts Can’t Do It
  6. 6 Every angle
Loading streaming availability…

Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in Ghosts Can’t Do It: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

Katie O'Dare Bo Derek is married to elderly billionaire Scott Anthony Quinn. Despite a 30-year age gap, their relationship is vibrant, adventurous, and filled with laughter, travel, and a deeply passionate sex life. They ride horses, chase nightlife, and revel in the energy of youth on loan to an older man. During a countryside horseback ride, Scott suffers a heart attack. He survives, but doctors warn that his heart condition will rob him of physical intimacy. Age and medical barriers prevent him from receiving a heart transplant, and facing a future without that intimacy, he chooses to die on his own terms. He commits suicide as a final act of control over his fate.

Ascending to the afterlife, Scott meets a fledgling guardian angel—a novice who is still learning how to guide souls. The angel, portrayed by Julie Newmar, is unsettled by the weight of her first assignment, and Scott uses that inexperience to persuade her to allow him a return to Earth not merely as a ghost, but as someone who can inhabit a living body later. He convinces her to let him come back for the sake of staying near Katie, the person who still grieves him most. Katie is the only one who can sense or hear Scott, a paradox that fuels both comfort and frustration as they navigate the limits of non-physical contact.

To make his plan work, Scott urges Katie to embrace a dangerous path: he wants her to kill so that he can possess the victim’s body. On the pretense of managing her late husband’s business affairs around the world, Katie uses her inheritance to travel the globe, seeking a vessel that would be sexually compatible with their bond. A sub-plot unfolds around a business negotiation with Donald Trump, illustrating the high-stakes, cosmopolitan setting in which the pair move. Scott encourages Katie to engage in sexual encounters with each potential body, using intimacy as a test to see if the body can sustain their shared connection.

Eventually the couple identifies a young, handsome petty criminal named Fausto Leo Damian as their target. Katie has sex with Fausto multiple times while silently weighing the moral cost of murder, but the more intimate they become, the harder it is for her to imagine ending his life. Scott grows increasingly impatient, pressuring Katie to proceed before she changes her mind or withdraws emotionally.

The planned turn comes during a snorkeling trip when Fausto becomes tangled in a fishing net and drowns. In an unforeseen twist, Scott cannot possess the dead Fausto, forcing Katie to revive him with CPR. Freed, the living Fausto becomes a vessel for Scott’s presence, and the story culminates in Katie marrying Fausto—the man now permanently inhabited by Scott—binding their fates in a complex, morally charged union that has them navigating life between the living and the spirit world.

Last updated: December 03, 2025 at 23:58

Was this helpful?

Plot questions answered

Ghosts Can’t Do It Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why does Scott commit suicide?

Scott commits suicide after doctors inform him that his heart condition will permanently prevent him from having sexual intimacy. Since he is too old for a heart transplant and refuses to live without that physical connection with Katie, he chooses to die on his own terms as an act of control over his fate.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes establish the couple's deeply passionate relationship, making Scott's decision to end his life feel consistent with his character.

  • scott suicide
  • heart condition
  • why scott dies
Q2

How does Scott return as a ghost?

After his death, Scott encounters a fledgling guardian angel who is inexperienced with her first soul assignment. He persuades her to allow him to return to Earth as a ghost by arguing that Katie, who grieves him most, still needs him.

Foreshadowing: The angel's uncertainty during her first assignment makes her vulnerable to Scott's manipulation.

  • scott ghost
  • guardian angel
  • how scott returns
Q3

Why can only Katie see Scott's ghost?

The story establishes that Katie is the only person who can sense or hear Scott's ghost because she grieves him most deeply. This unique connection allows their relationship to continue despite his non-physical state.

Foreshadowing: The afterlife scene sets up the paradox that only the person with the strongest emotional bond can perceive him.

  • katie sees scott
  • ghost only visible to katie
Q4

Why does Katie agree to murder someone?

Scott convinces Katie that only by killing a living person can he possess that victim's body, allowing them to reunite in the mortal world with physical intimacy restored. Her devotion to Scott and desperation to have him back drives her to accept this moral compromise.

Foreshadowing: Scott's ghost manipulates Katie emotionally, framing the murder as necessary for their love to survive.

  • katie murder
  • why katie kills
  • body possession plan
Q5

How does the body possession work?

Scott explains that he needs to inhabit a living body to return to the mortal world. Initially he plans for Katie to murder someone so he can possess the fresh corpse, but the plan shifts when Fausto drowns and Katie revives him with CPR, making the revived body suitable for possession.

Foreshadowing: The requirement that the body must be living explains why Scott couldn't possess Fausto when he was dead.

  • body possession
  • how scott inhabits fausto
Q6

Why does Fausto drown during the snorkeling trip?

During a snorkeling trip, Fausto accidentally becomes tangled in a fishing net and drowns. This creates an unexpected crisis because Scott initially cannot possess a dead body, forcing Katie to revive him with CPR so the possession can occur.

Foreshadowing: The drowning is presented as an accident that both threatens and enables the couple's plan.

  • fausto drowning
  • snorkeling accident
  • fishing net
Q7

Why does Katie marry Fausto after he becomes possessed?

After Katie revives Fausto with CPR and Scott successfully possesses his living body, Katie chooses to marry Fausto, who is now permanently inhabited by Scott. The marriage represents their reunion and allows them to stay together in the mortal world as the story reaches its happy ending.

Foreshadowing: The earlier测试 of sexual compatibility with potential vessels foreshadows this final union.

  • katie marries fausto
  • marriage ending
  • scott in fausto
Q8

What is the purpose of the Trump subplot in the story?

The Trump subplot involves Katie negotiating a business deal while traveling the world under the pretense of handling Scott's affairs. It serves to establish the high-stakes, cosmopolitan world the couple inhabits and adds to the film's campy tone, but it does not directly affect the main supernatural plot.

Foreshadowing: The business subplot is introduced early in the world travel section, emphasizing the wealthy environment surrounding the characters.

  • donald trump
  • business deal
  • world travel
Q9

Why can't Scott initially possess Fausto when he dies?

When Fausto drowns, Scott is unable to possess his dead body. The story establishes that Scott can only inhabit a living body, which is why Katie must revive Fausto with CPR, bringing him back to life so Scott can then possess him.

Foreshadowing: The rules of possession are established earlier when Scott explains the requirement for a living vessel.

  • dead body possession
  • possession rules
  • fausto death
Q10

Why does Katie struggle with killing Fausto?

As Katie spends more time with Fausto, developing a real sexual and emotional connection with him, she finds it increasingly difficult to go through with the murder. The more intimate they become, the harder it becomes to imagine ending his life, creating genuine moral conflict.

Foreshadowing: The sexual compatibility testing scenes show Katie developing genuine feelings that complicate the plan.

  • katie conflicted
  • moral struggle
  • feelings for fausto
Q11

How do Scott and Katie choose Fausto as their target?

Scott and Katie travel the world testing potential vessels by having Katie engage in sexual encounters with each candidate. They eventually settle on Fausto, a young handsome petty criminal, because he meets the physical compatibility requirements for their bond.

Foreshadowing: The systematic testing of multiple candidates leads to Fausto's selection as the optimal vessel.

  • fausto selection
  • choosing victim
  • body testing

Movie threads

More Movies Like Ghosts Can’t Do It, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Ghosts Can’t Do It tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Campy supernatural romance movies like Ghosts Can’t Do It

Absurd romantic fantasies where love conquers death in hilarious ways. If you enjoyed the absurd romantic fantasy of Ghosts Can’t Do It, you'll love these movies where love and the supernatural collide in playful, campy ways. These films feature similar themes of possession, devotion, and supernatural hijinks, all delivered with a light, comedic tone.

  • campy
  • romantic
  • playful
  • absurd
  • fantastical
  • seductive
  • Tone: light, playful, campy
  • Pacing: steady, plot-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories typically follow a central romantic dilemma solved through a fantastical, often ridiculous, supernatural premise. The plot involves a character navigating an otherworldly situation—like communicating with a ghost or facilitating a possession—to reunite with their beloved, leading to a series of comedic and romantically charged events.

Why they belong together: These movies are grouped together because they share a unique combination of high romance, supernatural plots, and a consistently light, campy tone. They create a feel-good experience where dark themes are played for laughs, and the central love story triumphs in an unexpectedly whimsical way.

Dark comedic murder plots like in Ghosts Can’t Do It

Morbid premises played for laughs, where murder plots become farcical adventures. For viewers who liked the darkly humorous murder scheme in Ghosts Can’t Do It, this list features movies with similar comedic crime capers. These films take a morbid premise and treat it with a playful, farcical sensibility, resulting in stories that are more funny than frightening.

  • dark comedy
  • absurd
  • playful
  • campy
  • farcical
  • morbid humor
  • Tone: light, darkly comedic, absurd
  • Pacing: steady, methodical
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves a character with a morally questionable goal, such as acquiring a new body or solving a problem through crime. However, the journey is filled with humorous obstacles, incompetent allies or antagonists, and a tone that constantly winks at the audience, ensuring the dark subject matter never feels heavy.

Why they belong together: These films are united by their unique tone: they balance a dark premise with consistent comedy. The pacing is steady as the plot unfolds, but the emotional weight remains light because the focus is on the absurdity and humor of the situation rather than the moral consequences.

If you liked this

Movies Like Ghosts Can’t Do It

Similar movies to Ghosts Can’t Do It: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Every angle

Ghosts Can’t Do It (1989) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Ghosts Can’t Do It in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app