It is titles like "24 Hours of Terror" that provide me with the biggest thrills and the greatest satisfaction! It's not very good, but it's extremely obscure and - moreover - a sort of pioneer when it comes to blending styles and subgenres. Finding a (decent) copy of a rare horror/euro-crime movie most people have never heard about - let alone seen - is a thrill.
First, let's be very honest. "24 Hours of Terror" is already a short film (84 minutes) and then still at least 35-40% is pure and redundant filler material. It starts with exaggeratedly overlong footage of someone driving a car to the airport, then parking his car, and then walking towards the entrance. Ten minutes of running time covered; check. Throughout the movie there's also a lot of random shots of owls, and it ends with a seemingly endless shot of a taxiing and departing airplane. You begin to think the plane might crash or explode, or something, but no.
The whodunit aspect of the plot isn't exactly the greatest mystery in history, neither. There are six potential murderers, and - guess what - the one everyone suspects from the beginning is also the actual culprit. There are hardly any attempts to mislead the viewer, to complicate the plot, or to gradually mount the tension.
But you know what? It doesn't matter! "24 Hours of Terror" is nevertheless entertaining and special. The film was made in 1964 and it mixes elements of a Giallo and Euro-crime in the setting of a Gothic horror! The Giallo was only just invented (with Mario Bava's "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" and "Blood and Black Lace") and it would take another few years before the Euro-Crime genre would properly break through.
