Targets

Peter Bogdanovich’s debut, Targets follows Boris Karloff’s aging movie star Byron Orlok as he reluctantly agrees to make a personal appearance at a drive-in theater hosting one of his old pictures – with complications ensuing after a crazed young man (Tim O’Kelly’s Bobby Thompson) decides to conclude a murderous shooting spree there. It’s certainly interesting to note that, for much of its appropriately brisk running time, Targets comes off as a low-key character study of two very different men, as writer/director Bogdanovich delivers a deliberately-paced drama focused on the central characters’ parallel exploits – with the dueling narratives faring surprisingly well, although Karloff’s scenes certainly deserve the edge if only for the venerable actor’s mesmerizing performance. (This is never more true than in the sequence in which he tells a small audience a captivating tale involving no less than Death himself.) Bogdanovich’s stylish visuals, coupled with a smattering of engrossing interludes (eg Bobby begins shooting at various cars on the freeway), heighten the picture’s pervasively watchable atmosphere, and although the climax isn’t quite as gripping as Bogdanovich has obviously intended, Targets nevertheless (and ultimately) comes off as an impressively assured first feature that earns bonus points for a fantastic late-career turn by Karloff.

*** out of ****