Hmmm… I’ve never quite got Bogdanovich. I’m still not convinced. Targets is a good idea—old-school horror legend (Karloff, doing his best with what he’s given) crosses paths with a modern-day, real-world killer—but it never quite lands. Karloff’s great, obviously, and there’s something poignant about him playing a man who knows he’s past it. But the rest? Bit of a slog, honestly. The sniper stuff should be tense, but it’s weirdly flat. And the script is dreadful—people talking like they’ve just learned how conversations work. It feels like Bogdanovich had something to say about violence and movies but got distracted by showing off how clever he is. It's not a total write-off, but I wouldn’t rush to watch it again.

This movie is awful in every possible way. The concept is sick, the sets are ugly, Boris is good but all the other performances are awful, especially Peter Bogwhatever who directed this mess.

Intense, meta, disturbing, As Hollywood old fashioned movie horror comes face to face with today's real life everyday horror, Final triumphant swan song of Boris Karloff, and an impressive debut for Peter Bogdanovich.

Karloff is great here (obviously) and Bogdanovich really was taping into something about American violence that unfortunately remains eternally relevant.

I had first heard of the movie from the horror documentary Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue, decided to check it out. It gave a simple message that real life events top any horror movie, in this case gun violence, but that's about it. The shooter is barely fleshed out, just decides to go on a killing spree out of nowhere. It left me feeling unfulfilled as to his reasoning.

There are a lot of reasons to want to like Targets. It's director Peter Bogdanovich's first film. It's Boris Karloff's final movie of any significance. It's got a great backstory courtesy of producer Roger Corman. It's one of the first films shot by the great cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs. Despite all of this, it only partially works. It is essentially two separate and disparate stories (a fading horror star coming to terms with the end of his career; a sniper on a killing spree) that merge in a chaotic final scene. There are some directorial flashes of brilliance from Bogdanovich and the story itself is a prescient look at violence in America, but there are just too many shortcomings to give it a full recommendation. The sets are awful, some of the dialogue is brutal, the editing at times is choppy, and many of the performances are sub-standard. Despite all of that, it has some truly chilling moments and certainly foreshadowed the brilliance of what was to come from Bogdanovich.

I think Roger Ebert was right when he described this film as an interesting one but not necessarily a good one. The two narratives stay separate for most of the film, but collide at the end in an interesting commentary on America's prudishness and self image. Can America tell what is real? Unfortunately it's very slow (and not really in a good way).

Karloff is great here (obviously) and Bogdanovich really was taping into something about American violence that unfortunately remains eternally relevant.

Targets tells the dual narrative of Boris Karloff (as Byron Orlock but essentially playing himself) an aging horror movie star on the brink of retirement and young All-American Gun-crazed war veteran Bobby (Tim O'Kelly) on the brink of committing mass murder. Orlock struggles to see his relevance in the modern era despite the continued support an encouragement of his secretary (Nancy Hsueh) and young wonder boy director Sammy (played by non-other than Peter Bogdanovich himself) who has written a perfect role for the reluctant Orlock's swansong. Alternatively Bobby appears as the poster-boy of white conservative Americana, good looks, beautiful wife, loving and supportive parents, he smiles glibly at the television comedy's laugh track, all while calculating his methodology for use of his accumulated arsenal of rifles, handguns and ammunition. Even where Bobby hints at his disturbing thoughts, his picture perfect surrounds are incapable of addressing or acknowledging his need for help. The scenes where Bobby finally enacts his fantasies are handled in a chilling, matter of fact manner and with cold precision as Bobby snipes at random targets on a California freeway. The narrative converges with a horrific shooting spree at the Drive-In premiere of Orlock's latest horror feature featuring a public appearance from the star. There is a thematic convergence also with Orlock's 'make believe' Gothic horror of Counts and Castles juxtaposed with Bobby's 'ripped from the headlines' real life murder spree and examination of mental illness. Boris Karloff still had two shooting days owing on his contract with Roger Corman which lead to the funding of Targets in many ways a worthy swansong to Karloff's career and presumably reflective of the dream role written for Orlock within the film. Based on the infamous 1966 Charles Whitman shooting spree but sadly still relevant in the modern era particularly in light of the recent Vegas sniper shootings and the horrific Aurora cinema incident.

This was an unexpected surprise. I'd never even heard of Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece before, and trust me, that's exactly what it is. The film is split between following horror film producer Byron Orlock as he ponders retirement from the industry, and troubled Vietnam veteran Bobby Thompson; a man struggling with murderous thoughts, and beginning to act upon them. The film takes place over the space of just over twenty four hours (give or take) and culminates at a drive through movie theatre, where Orlock is supposed to be making a personal appearance at a screening of one of his films. Some of the edits are stunning, most notably when the film flicks between the two story lines that it focuses on, and there are some beautiful yet harrowing panning shots during Thompsons' murderous rampage that he embarks upon early in the film. The performances are fantastic; Tim O'Kelly is terrifyingly calm and collected as he guns down innocents, addressing the task as if it's nothing more than a daily chore, and not a taxing one at that. The film is barely ninety minutes long, and some might feel that the backstory given to O'Kelly's Thompson isn't padded out enough to understand his issue; but that's not how I felt at all. The lack of understanding or reason makes the rampage even more shocking, and makes Targets one of the best films I've seen in a while.

Do you think Pepsi-Cola deliberately okayed the use of their product by a deranged serial killer, or was their marketing team less concerned over such youthful indiscretions back then? Targets is clearly the result of a tight budget (in reality, the residue of contract obligations from a different film - The Terror - that was mostly notable for its remarkable cast diversity, featuring a late-career Karloff and a very early Nicholson), but it does create moments of solid tension, presenting violence as a constant presence underneath the surface of a 'civilized' society that has reached a turning point; the world of Golden Age Hollywood melts away in the midst of a generation unable to differentiate fantasy from reality (the final scene, in which O'Kelly's crazed Bobby switches his aim between the Orlok on the screen and the one in front of him, is quite the moment). A generation that was spoonfed Vietnam as a patriotic war and prepackaged violence as entertainment reaps what it sows. It's not the most tightly constructed film (from a narrative perspective, Karloff is almost given too much character development, if anything), but it is an overtly cynical depiction of America at a cultural crossroads. It must have been so easy to get away with any sort of crime back in the day. "Sir, we found this pistol at the crime scene!" "Well, he could have paid cash at any hardware store, so I guess that's a dead end." (3.5/5)

A very interesting, very meta movie that is not annoyingly self-conscious. A clear influence on Tarantino, except it doesn't make you want to physically attack the director for being such an asshole.

Just a good, solid movie in every way. I can't believe I didn't see it in '68 or heard of it since then. Hmmmm....'68? Maybe I did see it, but it was '68!

The best thrilling movie ever made!

1968 was a great year for movies

Targets is a movie that tells two stories that seem completely unrelated. On the one side you have a Vietnam veteran who is slowly losing control, and on the other side you have Boris Karloff playing a version of himself as he decides to put in one last personal appearance before retiring. Peter Bogdanovich devises a clever script here that manages to be self-referential almost to the point of breaking the fourth wall. I was intrigued by the setup of the story, and horrified by some of the events that take place in it. I’m not sure if this is based on actual events that the writing team remembered, but things like this have happened in real life since then, which makes it relevant even today. I think the reason that Targets didn’t work for me all that well is that the stories came together in the least interesting and most predictable way. I had a lot of interest watching as the plots started to come together and was fascinated to see what would happen when they collided. But I was disappointed that it was the exact same thing that had been happening and the thing that would have been my first guess. There was a brief moment where it was somewhat surprising but that served as only a tease of what this movie might have been. I commend Targets for having a strong opening and several powerful scenes, but the film fizzled out for me and left me disappointed instead of delighted at the end.

1001 movies to see before you die. Unique and well made movie exploring a mass shooter, while juxtaposing Boris Karloff's ending career. RUS.

Essentially two different plots that some people at a studio liked and said: "Hey, what if we put the two of them together and make one movie! That would save us so much money!"

An aging horror star is set to appear at a drive-in movie event, and an unhinged Vietnam decides to position himself behind the screen and use the attending cars full of people as his next set of targets. I was pleased to have grabbed this one off cable and finally given it a spin, as it made for a nice and tense viewing experience. Well worth a look if you get the chance.

While this isn't a great film, it is one worth watching at least once. Just to see Korloff without makeup or special effects, or to critique Bagdanovich's above-average debut, or to see what a drive-in theater actually was. Then if you stumble across this film on late night 온라인카지노추천, watch it again!