1945's "The Phantom Speaks" fared no better than other Republic horror films, avoiding the stars utilized by Universal, Monogram, or PRC for contract players with little affinity for the genre. On this occasion, they not only rip off the Karloff-Lugosi vehicle "Black Friday," they actually signed the actor playing the tortured dual role, Stanley Ridges, who yet again is just not himself as he proves unable to resist the impulse to kill. Instead of a college professor granted half the brain of a dead gangster out for revenge, he's a psychic investigator delving into the separation of mind, body, and soul, finding the perfect test subject in a condemned man set to be executed but not finished avenging himself on the people that testified against him to seal his conviction. Once he falls under the dead man's overpowering influence, a gun is used to target the lawyer who failed to get him off, the faithless wife who lied on the witness stand, and the hapless witness who saw him shoot down his wife's lover in the park. During his lucid moments, Ridges has no memory of committing misdeeds and has a devoted housekeeper willing to cover up for him. Richard Arlen gets top billing as a newshound who discovers evidence of the living dead but chooses not to believe it, Tom Powers as the executed killer whose task is not yet finished. If only the climax weren't so similar to "Black Friday," another execution before the usual gathering of expressionless yet eager vultures.