TARGETS 1968 Review

TARGETS 1968  — 

Low budget producer Roger Corman gave Peter (Last Picture Show) Bogdanovich a few rules, and some money to shoot his first full length feature with as a reward for his hard work fixing other films and contributing to others as a director and editor. Famous actor Boris (Bride of Frankenstein) Karloff owed Corman three days work, so Karloff had to be in the film.  To be very frugal, 20 minutes of the Corman movie The Terror (the famous cheap film with Karloff and Nicholson) had to be used in the film.

 Bogdanovich bent these rules a bit and spent more money than he was originally supposed to, but his completed film was considered good enough to get a release by Paramount as a good movie, not just a drive-in cheapie.

The film is even better today than when it was first made. There are two stories going on in the movie and we wait in suspense for the paths of the stories to cross. Karloff pretty much plays himself as an aging horror star about to retire. He is preparing for a live appearance at a local drive in. Meanwhile a young man has gone psycho, shot his family and has shot cars on the freeway from a water tower and now intends on.... well you can guess.

Way ahead of its time, this disturbing film is one you don't want miss. Famed cinematographer Lazlo Kovaks shot the film. The recently released DVD has a Bogdanovich introduction and a feature length commentary very much worth listening to.

NOTE  the movie was pulled from theaters right after it was released because Robert Kennedy was assassinated and showing this movie was thought to be in bad taste.

#9 on the Closet Cult Movie countdown....

TARGETS 1968  Directed by  Peter Bogdanovich