Targets

R

Released Aug 15, 1968

1h 32m

Mystery & Thriller

List

89%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

81%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

After unhinged Vietnam vet Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) kills his wife and mother, he goes on a brutal shooting spree. Starting at an oil refinery, he evades the police and continues his murderous outing at a drive-in movie theater, where Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff), a retiring horror film icon, is making a promotional appearance. Before long, Orlock, a symbol of fantastical old-fashioned scares, faces off against Thompson, a remorseless psychopath rooted in a harsh modern reality.

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Critics Consensus

A startling directorial debut by Peter Bogdanovich mixes an homage to Boris Karloff horror films with a timely sniper story to create a thriller with modern baggage and old school shock and awe.

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Penelope Gilliatt

New Yorker

I know the film was made in hard circumstances, on a small budget, and it is only fair to say that the visual elements -- as opposed to the performances -- are skillfully commanded. But it seems to me a fantastically foolish picture.

Jan 23, 2024

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

Bogdanovich’s sophisticated, meta cinematic feature debut brings into confrontation Karloff’s era of castle gothic... and a more contemporary, ripped-from-the-headlines realism that is finding its way into the genre, and into films like this one.

Sep 15, 2023

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Far from a period piece, Targets’s contrasting tales capture a still-relevant portrait of America’s uniquely schizophrenic relationship with gun violence.

May 18, 2023

Full Review

Taylor Baker

Drink in the Movies

Targets still feels experimental and fresh today, the strictures in place on Bogdanovich with the lean budget and limited shooting days with Boris Karloff resulted in a film that if it were released today would feel exciting and new

Rated: 78/100

Nov 19, 2023

Full Review

Martin Unsworth

Starburst

As an observation of old Hollywood and American society, Targets is even more on-point today than it was in 1968. This masterpiece should be in the collection of any fan of cinema.

Rated: 5/5

Sep 25, 2023

Full Review

Michael Calleri

Niagara Gazette

The fast-paced “Targets” is a chilling experience. It captures superbly screen horror with real-life horror. The main character's descent into madness is one of calm determination, but the film’s editing keeps the thriller pulsating.

Jul 19, 2023

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Alec B

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

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

Full Review

Clint W

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/22/23

Full Review

dave s

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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).

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Peter Bogdanovich

Director

Boris Karloff

Byron Orlok

Tim O'Kelly

Bobby Thompson

Nancy Hsueh

Jenny

James Brown

Robert Thompson, Sr.

Sandy Baron

Kip Larkin

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Synopsis

After unhinged Vietnam vet Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) kills his wife and mother, he goes on a brutal shooting spree. Starting at an oil refinery, he evades the police and continues his murderous outing at a drive-in movie theater, where Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff), a retiring horror film icon, is making a promotional appearance. Before long, Orlock, a symbol of fantastical old-fashioned scares, faces off against Thompson, a remorseless psychopath rooted in a harsh modern reality.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Screenwriter: Polly Platt, Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Bogdanovich, Samuel Fuller
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Saticoy Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1968, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Runtime: 1h 32m
Sound Mix: Mono

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