Targets (1968)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Polly Platt (story) and
Peter Bogdanovich (story) ...

Release Date:

15 August 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

TARGETS are people...and you could be one of them!

Plot:

Elderly horror-film star who, while making a personal appearance at a drive-in theater, confronts a psychotic Vietnam veteran who's turned into a mass-murdering sniper.

Plot Keywords:

Drive In | Sniper | Mass Murderer | High Powered Rifle | Projectionist

Cast

Tim O'Kelly	...	Bobby Thompson
Boris Karloff	...	Byron Orlok
Arthur Peterson	...	Ed Loughlin
Monte Landis	...	Marshall Smith (as Monty Landis)
Nancy Hsueh	...	Jenny, Orlock's Secretary
Peter Bogdanovich	...	Sammy Michaels, Director
Daniel Ades	...	Ludlum the Chauffeur
Stafford Morgan	...	Salesman (first gunshop) (Brass Rail)
James Brown	...	Robert Thompson, Sr.
Mary Jackson	...	Charlotte Thompson
Tanya Morgan	...	Ilene Thompson, Bobby's Wife
Timothy Burns	...	Room Service Waiter (as Tim Burns)
Warren White	...	Grocery boy
Mark Dennis	...	Ray, Salesman (second gunshop)
Sandy Baron	...	Kip Larkin, Dejay

Also Known As:

Before I Die

MPAA:

Rated R for violent content. (previously rated GP and R)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-18 (1970) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Brazil:14 | Norway:16 (1969) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:GP (cut version) (1971) | USA:R (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) (2002) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Saticoy Productions

Trivia:

Roger Corman told Peter Bogdanovich he could make any film he wanted to, with two conditions: he had to use stock footage from The Terror (1963), and he had to hire Boris Karloff for two days (Karloff was under contract and owed Corman those two days). Karloff was so impressed with the script that he refused pay for any shooting time over his contracted two days.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bobby comes home he parks his convertible Ford Mustang on the street. After being in the house all afternoon Bobby goes to retrieve a firearm from the Mustang's trunk and we see the Mustang is now sitting in the driveway.

Quotes:

[Jenny has been scolding him]
Byron Orlok: Quite a speech!
Jenny: You should hear it in Chinese.

Movie Connections:

Features Beep, Beep (1952)

As close to "A" as a "B-Movie" can get.

Roger Corman explains in his autobiography that he handed this "spec" project to the up-and-coming Bogdanovich primarily because he could basically pay the kid peanuts. Bogdanovich understood Corman's economic sensibilities well, and cut as many corners as he could. He uses Cormans regular bit-players as well as plenty of Jack Nicholson footage from 1963's "The Terror" - another Corman B-movie. Corman's specifications for the film were simple: make a cheap film referring to the recent Charles Whitman shootings at the University of Texas, and make it fast. The script draws heavily from the real-life Whitman story; the all-American boy gone bad kills his wife and mother, and then proceeds on a killing spree, shooting anyone in his sights from a snipers nest. This story is intertwined with that of Byron Orlocks ageing horror legend nearing retirement; here Boris Karloff plays himself, for all intents and purposes. Bogdanovich plays a major role in the film himself, and there is obvious affection between the young director and Karloff in the scenes they share. Although Bogdanovich's wife Polly Platt takes a screenwriting credit, it is often said that her role was actually more of a partner in all Bogdanovich's early work, collaborating and counter-balancing his excesses. There is probably a lot of truth to this theory, as after the couple separated Bogdanovich's suffered a deep decline. I had read much of the history of `Targets' in Peter Biskind's `Easy Riders - Raging Bulls' and Corman's own `How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime', and have been lucky enough to catch it twice on cable in the last week. It really is a very competent debut, and Bogdanovich truly makes the most of what humble resources he had at his disposal. See it.