just watch it!

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Peter Bogdanovich's first credited directorial effort is Boris Karloff's last great film. A split story of an aging movie star (Karloff) wanting to retire and an unhinged sniper (Tim O'Kelly) going on a shooting rampage. The two stories intersect brilliantly in the film's climax. Watching this you would think the director was an old pro, not a novice. Bogdanovich, who also acts in the movie and does a surprisingly good job, makes the most of the limited budget he was given. He also makes clever use of footage from Karloff's movies The Criminal Code and The Terror. Karloff is fantastic in a role that would be a perfect coda for his career. Yeah he made some more forgettable low-budget horror movies after this but this is such a perfect final film for him that I prefer to think of it as such. O'Kelly is also good in his only notable film role. It's a remarkable movie that's multilayered and perhaps as timely today as it was then. If you enjoy Karloff then, of course, it's a must-see.

Targets is a low budget film featuring one of the last performances of aging legend Boris Karloff. To be honest I wasn't expecting too much from this however it is quite watchable despite some rather wooden acting from the supporting cast. It's billed as a horror/thriller but I would class it much more of a thriller than a horror. It does take a while to get going with the first half of the movie concentrating on setting the scene and getting to know the characters. To be honest they aren't the most exciting bunch although Karloff does a good job in his role. The plot of the film is pretty unusual and it does keep your attention as the tension slowly builds. When the killing does come it's all done rather well which at least vindicates the long build up. Despite the budget constraints this is a decent film and well worth watching.

To see this movie now is to appreciate the genius of both Karloff as an actor and Peter Bogdanovich as a director. (As an actor he's passable, but he could direct and edit with the best of them).Karloff plays Byron Orlok, an aging horror film star now reduced to making second-rate horror flicks and thinking that he's no longer needed or even relevant. While he contemplates his future, in another part of the city, a young man (Tim O'Kelly) murders his family in cold blood and then proceeds to go on a shooting spree. The trail of murder comes to a head when both worlds collide in an art-imitates-life (or is it the other way around?) moment at a drive-in theater.The acting is exemplary here with Karloff a standout essentially playing himself and ably supported by Bogdanovich as screenwriter/director Sammy Michaels and Nancy Hsueh as Karloff's loyal assistant and (possible?) love interest of Sammy.Bogdanovich wisely eschews blood as much as possible and builds the tension with long shots and quick cuts at key moments in the movie. The lack of a musical score actually enhances rather than detracts from the movie. But really, Karloff is the whole show and for that and that alone, this film must be seen. It's a tribute to his genius and Bogdanovich's direction that Targets is as good as it is. Forty-six years later, it can still hang with the best suspense pictures around.

One of the things I truly like and admire about Boris Karloff was that he pretty much kept on playing in the same sort of movies and played the same sort of roles, throughout his entire career. Seems to me he looked for movies and parts that suited him and more let movies adapt to him, rather than the other way around.It's also a well kept secret Karloff actually was a pretty good actor! In this movie he definitely gets to show some of his skills and I really enjoyed him in, what later turned out to be, one of his final roles.But really, it's not a Karloff movie and I also most certainly don't see him as the lead role in this. It's actually best to know as little as possible about this movie, since that way you shall definitely enjoy it most, just as I pretty much did. It's a movie that constantly throws you off. The one moment you think the movie is going to be about one thing but it then later turns out it's being about something totally different and unrelated!You could see this movie as one that has two simultaneous story lines in it. Both of them are seemingly unrelated to each other but they of course come together toward its end. Not in the most convincing way and it seems a bit random all but I don't know, the randomness of it seemed to sort of suit the movie.It's because it also has some other very random things going on in it. I'm referring to the sniper, who truly randomly picks his victims and goes on a terrible killing spree. There is something very uncomfortable and horrendous about it and I'm not even kidding when I say that this is one of the most violent movies I have ever seen, purely due to the randomness and pointlessness of all the killings! And I really mean and say this all in a positive way.It besides all gets shot and buildup in a very effective and also realistic way. Director Peter Bogdanovich certainly did a great job handling its tension and it will put you on the edge of your seat and let you hold your breath for a few seconds.It's really surprising how great and original this movie is! I say surprising, since this isn't exactly being a movie that is well known anywhere. It makes this a criminal underrated movie, that most definitely deserves to be seen by more!8/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/