... and if this was a celebrity impersonation contest I'd give this a much higher rating. Especially with the actor playing the grandfather, Harry Mestayer, looking, moving, and especially sounding so much like Lionel Barrymore. But I digress.
A utility repair and maintenance crew is digging a hole outside of a house when they find a box with the skeletal remains of a human being. Inspector Carr (John Hamilton) and his pal Dr. Crabtree (Donald Meeks) investigate. So their interest first turns to the adjacent house. Upstairs is a weird scientist, his sister who acts as his assistant, and their grandfather. They seem to have no relationships other than to each other, and being so odd one can see why.
Downstairs in the same house is a Chinese American merchant, much more normal than the clan upstairs - which is a low bar, but also with no known enemies.
Since the police department seems to have hit a dead end with this case, Dr. Crabtree is given permission to take the skull to a local scientist who specializes in bringing extinct animals to life by using only their bones to reconstruct what they looked like with flesh. Crabtree wonders if the scientist could do the same for a man given his skull. The scientist agrees to the challenge.
The camraderie between Carr and Crabtree and the use of scientific investigative methods is good as always, but the resolution lacks any explanation as to motive in the crime. Plus a couple of extra horrors are discovered at the end and they also remain unexplained. That is why I give it such a low rating. I have only seen very dim prints of this one, on Turner Classic Movies which should have the best print available, and an improved print might improve my rating as well.
