Suspenseful film; Karloff is excellent (an Oscar going begging); Tim O'Kelly equally good as deranged sniper. Freeway scene with random cars being shot at particularly creepy.

Interesting clash of generations here as Karloff's aging horror star (himself) bumps up against a smiley boy scout-type who loses his shit and starts picking off random people on a California freeway with a sniper rifle. Plenty hoaky in parts (and unfortunately, the worst is saved for the climax), but I was shocked at the level of violence for 1968, especially the snipings themselves, coming so closely after MLK, JFK and RFK's assassinations. Doesn't always work, but pretty adventurous in parts.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching old Karloff in this juxtaposition of two seperate plot strands, his being the most interesting. The other, focusing on a shooter, is okay - standard thriller material. The strenous coupling, supposed to draw parallels between the monsters in the films by Karloff's director character and the shooter (with whom he deals as coldly as he treats his incompetent successors in the movie industry), seems a little forced but there's plenty of individual scenes to appreciate.

A good first directorial effort by Bogdanovich, marred by lack of money. Karloff gives a sweet, melancholy performance, playing a man a lot like himself.

Somewhat disjointed but on the whole satisfying thriller which manages both to haunt and bemuse with its dark sense of humor. Karloff is given one final curtain call which garners a much deserved standing ovation.

Its only real problem is that occasionally it's obviously low-budget. Otherwise, it's a clever, self-reflexive mini-masterpiece that juxtaposes the hugely outdated Byron Orlok with the horrifying subplot of Bobby Thompson's sudden, completely unemotional decision to shoot anyone he can. The victims are often kept at arm's length, and are reduced, yes, to targets. It's fascinating.

Targets has a quirky charm all its own. Karloff is mordantly marvelous as the movie actor and Bogdanovich has some nice scenes with him as the burgeoning director who boozily tries to convince him to stick around for one more picture. Bogdanovich is especially strong as he alternates between sequences that exhibit very different tones. It would be easy for the film to feel problematically off-balance, but Bogdanovich turns it into a virtue, charging the film with grand unpredictability.

Bogdanovich's first film is a tautly paced thriller using the Charles Whitman saga as the basis for its narrative. You can see the seeds of a crafted director being sown in the framing and pacing of the film. For a first film, Bogdanovich also shows restraint and good editing technique to keep the film moving forward without any hiccups.

Effectively combines an old-school horror icon with a more modern type of terror.

Really makes you wish Bogdanovich had stayed this hungry and restrained rather than becoming too enamored with himself by the mid-70's to ever make a decent film again. Karloff is surprisingly good.

Undeniably contrived (the ending feels especially forced), but still quite effective.

What a wonderful surprise this was. Bogdanovich shows his love of movies in interweaving a tribute to Boris Karloff and a contemporary horror/thriller. It's both fun and terrifying and really well paced.

For a cut-and-paste job this is very good. Both the mad-killer story and the other story where Karloff and Bogdanovich basically play themselves work very well

What a freaky and cool movie. It manages to make a point about the relationship between horror movies and "real" horror by juxtaposing a showing of a campy horror movie and a crazy man going on a killing spree. Boris Karloff plays a very thinly veiled alternate version of himself, and his performance adds a touch of both humor and melancholy. However the movie is very obviously limited by a shoestring budget, and some sections are severely lacking in cohesion.

A thoughtful (though not overly brainy) thriller, Targets hits right on the mark.

Very, very tense. It still resonates today.

Very low-budget / very cool ideas.

Gripping. Never lets go. The climatic scene is at once stripped down and really, really tense.

Completely awe-inspiring, one of the best thrillers i've ever seen. The story behind its production is fascinating, and for any obvious flaws that may be apparent because of this it is more then made up for by the sheer loopy power of how the story unfolds.