Reviewed by JONATHAN LEWIS:         

   

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.