Wed 9 Oct 2024
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: THE PHANTOM SPEAKS (1945).
Posted by Steve under Horror movies , Reviews[4] Comments
THE PHANTOM SPEAKS. Republic Pictures, 1945. Richard Arlen, Stanley Ridges, Lynne Roberts, Tom Powers, Charlotte Wynters, Jonathan Hale. Screenplay: John K. Butler. Director: John English.
The Phantom Speaks is an unusually downbeat crime/horror hybrid programmer from Republic Pictures. Overwrought and over explained, the story centers around a paranormal researcher’s quest to bring the dead back to life, albeit in spirit form. Dr. Paul Renwick (Stanley Ridges) is about as sincere as can be. He truly believes in the supernatural, even though he knows he is an object of ridicule for his obsession. When Renwick learns that convicted murderer Harvey Bogartus (Tom Powers) is about to be put to death, he arranges for a brief meeting in which he explains his desire to bring Bogartus’s spirit back from the grave following the execution.
As one might imagine, things don’t go entirely according to plan. While Renwick is able to bring Bogartus back, it doesn’t play out the way he expected. Bogartus, a thug to his core, fully takes over Renwick’s body and uses it to commit a new string of heinous murders. Renwick, for his part, becomes the victim of his own hubris and doesn’t even realize how his body has been co-opted by an evil spirit. Investigating the weird occurrences is reporter Matt Fraser (Richard Arlen), who in ths one isn’t a particularly compelling protagonist.
All told, The Phantom Speaks is a rather mediocre horror film. But, at a running time of less than seventy minutes, it doesn’t get a chance to wear out its welcome. It’s watchable, but nothing really more than that.
October 9th, 2024 at 11:45 pm
I concur on this one. It’s competently done — maybe even more than that — but it came along maybe 10 years after its time.
October 10th, 2024 at 4:14 am
Jonathan’s smooth and to-the-point critique reminded me of the film itself. Much more so than my mention of it here: https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=58027
October 10th, 2024 at 10:26 am
Thanks for the reminder, Dan, and nicely done. I had to clean up the word salad an update to the blog’s formatting caused, and I reinserted the missing images. Your comments read just fine again!
October 11th, 2024 at 9:53 pm
A not unpleasant time killer, that might have benefited by an actor given to more over the top performances than Ridges, and by switching focus to the doctor more than the reporter.