Targets

Rating:
Summary: A FINAL APPEARANCE, A NEW BEGINNING, and MASS MURDER
Review: 'Targets' is wonderful movie which introduces a new Directing talent, Peter Bagdonovich, and also is the setting for the final appearance of Horror movie giant Boris Karloff. The movie is good although the weak plot. The cinematography is cheap but thats what makes it good. The film is about a young "All American Boy" who becomes a mass murderer by Sniping people at a drive in Theatre which is home to a premire of Boris Karloff's final movie. THe image of the sniper is compied after Charles Whitman, the individual who killed 14 people from the University of Texas Tower in Austin. The sets are cheap but the directing skill of Bagdonovich makes everything work well. See Targets for an interesting look at Karloff's final performance plus a wonderful Independant Film.

Rating:
Summary: Lost Treasure
Review: Boris Karloff gave one of his finest performances in this film and proved that he didn't have to be the movie's monster to be the star. The transfer quality is excellent, the special features aren't much but they provide great value. It was a kick for me seeing LA in the '60s and ztill recognizing landmarks. I was especially impressed with the funky 60's decor in the killer's house - it looked like the house I grew up in!

Rating:
Summary: Lost Treasure
Review: Boris Karloff gave one of his finest performances in this film and proved that he didn't have to be the movie's monster to be the star. The transfer quality is excellent, the special features aren't much but they provide great value. It was a kick for me seeing LA in the '60s and ztill recognizing landmarks. I was especially impressed with the funky 60's decor in the killer's house - it looked like the house I grew up in!

Rating:
Summary: Great Karloff! Great Movie!
Review: Boris Karloff is stupendous in this low-budget Peter Bogdanovich thriller. (Spoiler)Incorporating footage from THE TERROR and THE CRIMINAL CODE, Karloff is established to be aging horror actor Byron Orlok(a chracter similar to himself in real life). Bogdanovich runs two plot lines into eachother-one with Karloff and another with a psychotic man with a rifle(Tim O'Kelly). He brings them together in a great climactic scene at a drive in theater. Cult film was shot by the great Laszlo Kovacks. It was Bogdanovich's first feature-and a very good one.

Rating:
Summary: a grand exit (well cose to an exit)
Review: corman wows here and reminds us that we really lost a very good director when he decided to devote all of his time to producing.
regardless, forget those last, depressing mexican horror quickies that karloff wheezed his poor dying self through. keep this as his bow. it's a nice summation of a glorious career.

Rating:
Summary: Cool for several reasons
Review: First, PB's first directorial effort, and not bad, considering the limitations he was given. Second, and far more important,it was a great vehicle for the then-aged Karloff; a role with a decent amount of dignity and respect to it; something the man deserved 100 times over. Yes, the ending is a little sappy, and the acting gets somewhat chewy at times, but this is absolutely a must-see for any Karloff fan.

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Summary: A classic vision of killing.
Review: Forget Natural Born Killers, this is the best representation of violence for violence sake. This film is a portrait of a man in love with guns and the idea of killing-not an unfamiliar trait in modern America. Boris Karloff is eclipsed by the calculated killing of a man posessed. Watch out for the type-writer/initial killing scene-it's a classic.

Rating:
Summary: At Last, Bogdanovich's First!
Review: In the early 1960s, celebrated director Peter Bogdanovich (1971's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW; 1972's WHAT'S UP, DOC?; 1973's PAPER MOON, et al.) was just starting his career in the motion-picture industry as an interviewer and critic. By the middle of the decade, he was working as a technical assistant for renowned low-budget producer/director Roger Corman, with whom he developed a good working relationship and a great mutual respect.

Impressed with Bogdanovich's creative and aesthetic contributions to the projects of others on his staff, Corman offered him the opportunity to write and direct a horror cheapie of his own, and of course, Bogdanovich jumped at the chance. But this would be a true test of Bogdanovich's mettle, Corman warned, because there would be three restrictions placed upon the project: Bogdanovich must keep the cost of making the film within its meager budget; the film must make prudent use of footage edited out of Corman's earlier cheapie, THE TERROR; and the film must feature actor Boris Karloff (yes, THE Boris Karloff, who was contractually indebted to Corman's production studio for one last film). The result? TARGETS, Bogdanovich's suspensful and intriguing two-pronged study of the effects of unrelenting ennui.

In the film, Karloff portrays Byron Orlok, an aged horror star of yesteryear who, despite opposition from his assistant and a director friend, wants to retire from filmmaking. The world has become so apathetic towards violence, he believes, that everyday events can sometimes be scarier than any of his fright flicks, and thereby his work has become passé.

Tim O'Kelly plays a dissatisfied young husband whose lack of genuine success is making it difficult for him to live in the shadow of his overbearing father. When he finally reaches his breaking point, he stoically murders his wife and parents, after which he takes his father's rifles and goes on a sniping spree.

The two stories converge at a drive-in theater, where Byron Orlok is preparing to make a public appearance (and where he plans to deliver his swan song and announce his retirement to his fans). After shooting at passing cars on a nearby highway, the sniper hightails it to the drive-in, being drawn there when he notices Orlok's name on the marquee. When the two men actually meet, the ennui in the lives of each finally comes to a head, but with quite different consequences.

The performance that Karloff delivered in TARGETS is arguably one of the best of his career. But it wasn't much of a stretch for him, to be honest, as the film was shot just a few years before his death and he was, therefore, merely playing himself. Peter Bogdanovich not only directed the film, he also played Sammy Michaels, the director friend of Orlok who is trying to talk the actor out of retiring. A beautiful young asian woman named Nancy Hsueh played Orlok's personal assistant, and she did an excellent job of complementing both Karloff and Bogdanovich. (Her performance really is outstanding, especially considering that she plays a secondary character, and it's a shame that she didn't go on to greater recognition before her death in 1981.)

Tim O'Kelly also derserves some kudos for the work he did as the discontented sniper. The role required little dialogue, so O'Kelly had to express most of his feelings and thoughts through facial expressions. It is really amazing to see the dichotomy of emotion--sometimes a mix of boredom and desperation, sometimes both anger and sadness--that he was able to convey at any given moment.

By the way, Bogdanovich did comply, for the most part, with Corman's requisites. Though production did go a bit over budget, TARGETS was still a low-budget film, even by the standards of the 1960s. (Since it was both critically acclaimed and a commercial success, the film actually earned a moderate profit for Corman's studio.) And obviously Karloff was, as required, the star of the film. But what of those snippets of footage from THE TERROR that Bogdanovich had to add in? They were were used as the "movie" that plays at the drive-in just before the Orlok character is scheduled to address his fans. Clever, eh?

Priase to Paramount for finally releasing TARGETS on DVD; the long-awaited disc is just fantastic! Though it doesn't appear as if much, if any, restoration was done, the print that was used for the transfer seems to be in very good shape. Colors are crisp and vibrant, and there are few intrusive wear artifacts. There are few extras, but an interesting feature commentary with director and co-star Bogdanovich is included. And at the going retail price, this DVD is a steal! Not often is such an excellent gem offered at for so little, especially one that has gained as big a cult following as this film has over the years.

This is certainly one film that is a must-own for Karloff fans. And those who love well-made, suspenseful thriller will be remiss if they don't add TARGETS to their collection.

Rating:
Summary: OUT WITH THE OLD HORROR, IN WITH THE NEW
Review: Peter B. debuts with this fine movie. The old, Victorian horror moves out...and the new, all-too-real horror appears. The new horror is the young American man that the nation pins its hopes and dreams on. He is the man who drinks Pepsi, eats Baby Ruth bars, drives a beautiful white Mustang convertible, and goes hunting with his old man. Could the person you work next to be the one with the 40-mm sniper rifle and the hand grenades in his/her automobile trunk? Could the person least likely to use such weapons become unhinged and start using them? This is the possibility of TARGETS.

Rating:
Summary: Victims of the Screen World
Review: Peter Bogdanovich produced, directed, edited and wrote the screenplay to TARGETS. The film has a curious and dichotomous quality to it. On one hand Bogdanovich handled the sniper (a very clean-cut Tim O'Kelly) in a very real, threatening and unprecedented way for its time. O'Kelly looks so much like the all-American kid from next door that he is all the more frightening making the film very unsettling. O'Kelly munches on a sandwich and guzzles down soda in-between his targets. Moreover the sniper is ferreted out by a famous horror film idol (Boris Karloff) from the golden age of Hollywood. The confrontation comes at a drive-in theatre of all places in an unusual climax. The film is suspenseful and alluring. Once you start watching it you're hooked. Is there a message to this film? Perhaps there is. The finale is almost pure hokum, but perhaps that is the point. Leave the killings, the violence and horror up on the screen. Don't let it escape into the real world. Get your jollies at the movies then drive home and lead a normal life. Perhaps that was true 30 years ago.