Overview
A chilling exploration of violence in America, where fiction pales in comparison to reality.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- paranoid
- unnerving
- melancholic
- classic thriller night
- cinephile viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praise the film as a startling, politically resonant thriller that fuses classic horror homage with contemporary anxieties about gun violence, though some find its dialogue and structure uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Byron Orlok regards his horror films as tame beside Bobby Thompson's real-world killing spree, while the film intercuts both worlds until they converge.
Bobby Thompson is presented as an unremarkable young man whose sniper attacks transform familiar locations into scenes of terror.
Boris Karloff's Byron Orlok is a retiring horror star who feels obsolete beside contemporary violence.
Orlok's career and Bobby's killing spree unfold in intercut threads that meet at the drive-in theater.
Films like Targets, and why
The King of Comedy
shared real-world gun violence, paranoid thriller tension, and collision between ordinary life and sudden public terror
Manhunter
shared critique of American violence, media spectacle, and psychologically disturbing crime thriller atmosphere
Peeping Tom
shared old-school horror tradition, aging genre performers, and reflective tension between cinema and modern brutality
In Cold Blood
shared 1960s American social unease, crime-driven suspense, and stark depiction of a killer embedded in everyday life
Movie Details
- Director
- Peter Bogdanovich
- Release Date
- 1968-08-13
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (250)
Cast
- Tim O'Kelly
- Boris Karloff
- Arthur Peterson
- Monte Landis
- Nancy Hsueh
- Peter Bogdanovich
- Daniel Ades
- Stafford Morgan
- James Brown
- Mary Jackson
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Targets about?
- An aging horror star confronts the terrifying reality of modern violence when a young sniper turns a drive-in theater into a killing ground.
- What is Targets like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Targets as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Targets violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Targets as graphic.
- What did critics think of Targets?
- Critics broadly praise the film as a startling, politically resonant thriller that fuses classic horror homage with contemporary anxieties about gun violence, though some find its dialogue and structure uneven.
- Which films are like Targets?
- Films with a similar feel include The King of Comedy, Manhunter, Peeping Tom, and In Cold Blood.
- How long is Targets?
- Targets runs 90 minutes.
- Where can I watch Targets?
- In United States, Targets is available to rent or buy from JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
