An aging horror star questions his place in modern Hollywood, while a disturbed young man goes on a shooting spree.An aging horror star questions his place in modern Hollywood, while a disturbed young man goes on a shooting spree.An aging horror star questions his place in modern Hollywood, while a disturbed young man goes on a shooting spree.
- Awards
- 1 win
- Marshall Smith
- (as Monty Landis)
- Waiter
- (as Tim Burns)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBy the time this film was made (from November 1967 to December 1967), Boris Karloff was 80 years old and in very poor health, was suffering from both emphysema and rheumatoid arthritis, had only half of one lung (the other half and the other one had been removed due to cancer) and spent the time between takes in a wheelchair wearing an oxygen mask. He also wore braces on both legs and had difficulty walking or even standing up without his cane; the weakness of his legs is visible in some scenes in the film. Fortunately, Karloff lived long enough both to see the finished film and enjoy the well-deserved accolades that he received for his performance in it.
- Goofs(at about one hour and 28 minutes into the film) At the very end of the film, the drive-in theater is empty the next day, except for the killer's car. This is illogical, since the victims' cars should be there, too.
- Quotes
Byron Orlok: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'd like to leave you with a little story to think about as you drive home through the darkness. Once upon a time, many, many years ago, a rich merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the marketplace to buy provisions. And after a while, the servant came back, white-faced and trembling, and said, "Master, when I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd, and I turned to look, and I saw that it was Death that jostled me. And she looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Oh, Master, please, lend me your horse, that I may ride away from this city and escape my fate. I will ride to Samara, and Death will not find me there." So the merchant loaned him the horse, and the servant mounted it and dug his spurs into its flank, and as fast as the horse could gallop, he rode towards Samara. Then the merchant went to the marketplace, and he saw Death standing in the crowd, and he said to her, "Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?" And Death said, "I made no threatening gesture. That was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him here in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samara."
- Crazy creditsThe film's original theatrical prints began with a title card reading, "Why gun control? Why did a lunatic sniper kill or maim 11 innocent victims in Texas on June 3, 1966? Why were over 7,000 Americans slain or wounded by gunfire in 1967? Why in 1968 after assassinations and thousands of more murders has our country no effective gun control law? This motion picture tells a story that sheds a little light on a very dark and a very deep topic." This title card was added by Paramount Pictures in the wake of the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, but it was not approved by director Peter Bogdanovich and was removed from later releases of the film.
- Alternate versionsThe film was cut for a "GP" rating for a 1971 re-release of it in order to capitalize on the success of Peter Bogdanovich's then-recent hit film, The Last Picture Show (1971). Later home video releases of it are uncut.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 100 Years of Horror: Boris Karloff (1996)
- SoundtracksGreen Rocky Road
(uncredited)
Written and performed by The Daily Flash (Don MacAllister, Steve Lalor, Jon Keliehor and Doug Hastings)
Cineaste Peter Bogdanovich's debut directing effort, sadly, to this day remains a topical hot spot. Released as it was just after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, Targets carried much relevance even though it was hardly a success at the box office. Over the years it has come to gain a cult following that is much deserved, the low budget production value actually helping to keep it uneasily potent.
Story is structured by way of two separate narrative threads, one sees Karloff as veteran horror film actor Byron Orlock, who sees himself as an anachronism and announces his retirement from movie making. His reasoning, warranted, is that his type of horror is way behind the times, the real horror is out there on the streets, bleakly headlined in the local newspaper. The other thread concerns Bobby Thompson (O'Kelly), a handsome boy next door type who has a pretty wife but finds himself unemployed and still living with his parents. He is a ticking time bomb, his mind soon to fracture and devastation will follow. The two stories converging for a bloody finale at a drive in movie theatre, where Orlock is making a special guest appearance, the old time horror of the movies coming face to face with the real terror of the modern world.
Though uncredited by choice, the screenplay belongs to Fuller, something that Bogdanovitch has always been keen to point out, and it's with the writing where the film gets its quality factor. The messages within are serious and handled evenly by Bogdanovitch, his pacing precise and in Karloff he has the perfect icon from which to underpin the story. True enough the acting around Karloff is sub-standard, notably from the director himself, but with Bogdanovich deliberately keeping the psychological explanation for Bobby's actions vague, film manages to rise above its flaws to leave an indelible mark. 8/10
- hitchcockthelegend
- Jul 24, 2011
- How long is Targets?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $130,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1