Peter Bogdanovich is a man that, to me, is too intelligent to make a film without anything to say. With that in mind, however; if Targets does have a point to it, it is masked well. The only thing resembling any kind of comment is that the film professes the differences between screen horror and real life horror, but even this idea is put forward in a muddled way. That being said, however; Targets is a world away from being a bad film. The film marks one of the last performances for the great Boris Karloff, and serves as a nice swansong to his career, especially as he's almost sending himself up in this film. The great man plays Byran Orlock; an aging horror film actor who has decided that he wants to retire. However, things are not as simple as that as, on the same day that Orlock is due to make his final public appearance at the screening of last movie (Roger Corman's 'The Terror'),there's a serial killer on the loose who's taking pot shots at people with a sniper rifle. As real life horror and screen horror icon clash...who will be the resulting victor?

Despite the point being rather muddled, Targets makes up for that with the exciting way that the plot plays out and the stream of tributes and comments on Karloff's (sorry, Orlock's) career. It's nice to see Karloff enjoying himself, and the introspective nature of the movie ensures that he gets the chance to do this. Peter Bogdanovich is well known for being a director who is also a fan of cinema, and this movie also gives him a chance to tribute the medium that he evidently loves. As a fan of cinema myself, it always makes me happy to see this sort of thing, and that marks another reason for my enjoyment of this movie. The way that the plot plays out makes the movie predictable, but in a way that adds to the idea of 'real horror', as we can see what's going to come; it's like a car crash - it's obvious what's going to happen, yet all we can do is just sit back and watch. On the whole, this is a classy thriller and while it never hammers home it's point enough to ensure that you know it's actually got a point, it works because of it's tension and well paced plot. This will also be a must see movie for fans of the great Boris Karloff.

This is an unusual film in that the first 3/4 of the film are actually two totally separate films that have no direct relation to each other. It's only in the final portion of the film that they intersect.

In one segment, an aging Boris Karloff plays a character that seems exactly like Karloff--an aging horror film star who is tired and wants to retire. A film producer (Peter Bogdonovich) desperately wants Karloff in the new film, but the aging star has had enough. Seeing Bogdonovich in a significant acting role was really fascinating and I was surprised that he really could act. And the scenes between him and Karloff were generally very sweet and it felt like a behind the scenes look at the master. I liked this aspect of the film a lot and it could have comprised the entire film. However, in real life, Karloff was very old and sickly and so in hindsight he probably couldn't have carried the film.

In the other segment, a seemingly nice and normal family man (Tim O'Kelly) is a ticking time bomb--seething with rage inside and about to go on a killing spree. This plot was taken straight from real life, as in 1966, an ex-serviceman (like O'Kelly's character) killed his family and then preceded to climb a tower at the University of Texas and pick off about a dozen innocent people. Later, it was discovered that the man in Texas may have been induced to do it as a result of a brain tumor, though the exact motivations of O'Kelly's character are pretty much unknown. In this case, most of the story elements leading up to the sniper attack are similar, but it occurs in Los Angeles instead.

After his initial killings at home and on a tower, O'Kelly relocates to a drive-in theater where Karloff is due to appear that night. However, before Karloff appears, people in the audience start getting picked off one at a time. This leads to one of the most unlikely but absolutely coolest endings I've seen in some time, as Karloff himself proves that just because you're old and missing most of your lungs due to emphysema doesn't mean you STILL can't be an action hero!!

Wow, was this one terrific movie. It's really nice to be surprised about a film, as I had very, very low expectations about this movie. During the last few years of his life, Boris Karloff appeared in some god-awful movies--some which were made in Mexico and one in Italy. For true fans of this film star, it's actually very hard to watch the movies because they are so bad and Karloff is just a shadow of his former great self. That's why it was such a relief to see that even though this was a very low budget film, it paid off with maximum results.

Bogdonovich was given the most limited resources in his directorial debut. He was informed that he must use plenty of stock Karloff footage as well as the services of Karloff for only two days of shooting!!! Despite these super-severe restrictions, he still managed to pull off one of the best films dollar-for-dollar I have seen. The plot is amazingly well constructed (so well, Karloff agreed to spend more time filming),it's very tense and very realistic--with intense violence (for the time) and realistic blood (often at the time, victims didn't bleed at all--a really silly cliché). I really can't say enough positive things about the film and it was so very satisfying for a long-time Karloff fan to see him in such a worthy film.

By the way, you probably won't recognize Tim O'Kelly. He was the original "Danno" in the pilot episode of HAWAII 5-0. I don't know why he didn't get the part after this, but he just faded away into obscurity and his career soon ended--with IMDb's biography unable to shed light on this. If only he'd gotten this part full-time, he might be a household name. As is, he's done nothing since 1973.

Peter Bogdanovich scored his first critical success with Targets that starred an elderly Boris Karloff playing an elderly star of Gothic horror films hardly a stretch for the man's talents. In fact a whole lot like William Henry Pratt in real life.

Karloff is telling the producer of his next film that this is it, despite verbal commitments he wants to retire. He's not reaching the newer generation he fears and his films are called camp. Time to just quit.

Peter Bogdanovich who also plays the writer of that project that he's turning his back on urges Karloff to reconsider as does Nancy Hsueh Karloff's girl Friday and Bogdanovich's girl friend. He does however have a personal appearance at a drive-in showing one of his films.

But while Karloff is musing about retiring, a very disturbed young man has built himself quite an arsenal. One fine day Tim O'Kelly a veteran of Vietnam who has built himself quite an arsenal decides just matter of factly to go on a human shooting spree. He kills his wife and then mows down a few more on the Freeway and then sets himself up at the drive-in to await the night's events.

O'Kelly is a frightening young man and this film sadly set a trend for making Vietnam veterans psychotic villains on screen. It lasted for over a decade. No doubt O'Kelly learned his weapon skill for combat, but lots more veterans came home without going psychotic. In any event O'Kelly's baby face and All American looks are what makes his performance all the more frightening.

As for Karloff this was ironically his last film away from the horror genre. When he died the following year he had about four posthumous films awaiting release. Talk about dying with your boots on. In real life the farthest thing from his mind was retiring.

The film is set up for the inevitable meeting between the old master of the horror film genre and a purveyor of some true life horror.

It's worth the wait to see what happens.