FILM · 1968 · USA
Targets
- Directed by
- Peter Bogdanovich
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Studio
- Saticoy Productions, Paramount Pictures
24 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
An aging horror-movie icon's fate intersects with that of a seemingly ordinary young man on a psychotic shooting spree around Los Angeles.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (24)
- #001
Roger Corman told director Peter Bogdanovich he could make the film he wanted on 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 to Corman and owed him those two days). Karloff was so impressed by the script, however, that he refused to accept any payment for any shooting time during the two days he was contractually owed. In total, he worked for five days.
- #002
Because the film includes scenes from Roger Corman's The Terror (1963), Corman suggested to director Peter Bogdanovich that the little-known actor who had appeared opposite Boris Karloff in that film should also appear in this one, perhaps in the killer role. Bogdanovich rejected the idea. The young actor became world-famous shortly after this film first appeared: he was Jack Nicholson.
- #003
The highway shooting scenes in the film were "stolen," meaning they were done without permission. Radios were used to communicate with the actors on the highway and to tell them when to pretend to be shot. Two cameras were used, one with a telephoto lens and one with a wide-angle lens. The final scene was shot with the woman trying to flee; after someone saw her fall as if she had been shot, the police were called, and the film's production crew was extremely tense before they arrived.
- #004
Apart from diegetic music (such as background music playing on a car radio), there is no musical score for this film.
- #005
Director Peter Bogdanovich planned for Boris Karloff to appear in the film for about twenty minutes with two days of shooting, and for the stock footage from The Terror (1963) to add another twenty minutes of screen time for Karloff. In the final film, Karloff is actually on screen for about thirty minutes (not counting his scenes in The Terror), and Bogdanovich shot all the scenes in the film in five days.
- #006
The sets for both Bobby Thompson's house and Byron Orlok's hotel room in the film were made from the same set pieces, with some adjustments and a new paint job.
- #007
Because the film's distributor, Paramount Pictures, feared the film would be controversial in the wake of the recent assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, it added a written prologue advocating gun control and opposing gun violence to the beginning of its theatrical prints. This prologue, however, was in no way approved by the film's director, Peter Bogdanovich, and as a result it was removed from all subsequent releases of the film, including home video.
- #008
The film was shot in 25 days and completed production in December 1967 (copyright 1967). Because of its controversial nature, Paramount Pictures released the film only after adding a written pro-gun-control and anti-gun-violence prologue to the beginning of its theatrical prints. This prologue, however, was in no way approved by the film's director, Peter Bogdanovich, and as a result it was removed from all subsequent releases of the film, including home video.
- #009
When film cameras running at 24 frames per second shoot directly from the screen of US televisions running at 30 fps, the result is a dark or light bar scrolling from top to bottom across the image. To avoid this effect in the scene where Sammy Michaels and Byron Orlok watch The Criminal Code (1931), the film image was matted over the TV screen in most shots to provide a steady, bar-free image. However, according to Peter Bogdanovich's DVD commentary on the film, they could not afford to use a mat for the establishing shot of the scene that scrolls across the TV screen, so the bar appears only in that shot and only in that shot (in Europe, where the TV frame rate is 25 fps, they generally run the film camera at 25 fps as well for shots containing a TV image).
- #010
Although the character of Byron Orlok in the film is based on the man who plays him (Boris Karloff), the similarities between the two men are in fact very few, though not entirely absent. Both are respected and iconic English actors known for their roles in horror films; however, Orlok is generally angry at the film industry and wants to retire, whereas Karloff never retired and was always grateful for his success in the film industry. Also, although Orlok seems angry about his status as a "horror actor," Karloff was in fact proud of his horror legacy and was especially proud of his most famous role in the film, the Monster in Frankenstein (1931).
- #011
When Roger Corman hired Peter Bogdanovich to direct this film, Corman asked whether Bogdanovich was familiar with the directing styles of Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks; Hitchcock's work was very concise, efficient and orderly, while Hawks preferred a more kinetic shooting style that was partly improvised without much organization. Corman advised Bogdanovich to shoot the film like Hitchcock.
- #012
According to Boris Karloff's daughter Sara Karloff, this is her father's favorite film among those he appeared in.
- #013
Samuel Fuller advised director Peter Bogdanovich to save as much money as possible so that the film's climax could be as epic as possible.
- #014
The quality "good movie" that Sammy Michaels, played by Peter Bogdanovich, wants Boris Karloff's semi-autobiographical character Byron Orlok to make is this film, compared with the three lifeless films he had made before, including The Terror (1963) with Roger Corman. The irony here is that Bogdanovich is trying to persuade Karloff to star in the film actually being shown: the last quality film that is not a B-horror movie. Another irony is that Karloff's character Orlok is only an uninvited guest in the story of the young mad sniper Bobby Thompson, played by Tim O'Kelly.
- #015
The house where Tim O'Kelly's clear-cut character Bobby Thompson lives with his happy family in the film has a fantastic look thanks to the cartoonish colors of the walls in every room and the strange absence of doorknobs on most of the interior doors. In addition, both the sparse wall decorations and the small size of the rooms give it a claustrophobic look. Director Peter Bogdanovich did all of this to reflect the warped fairy-tale nature of the unbalanced young gunman's life.
- #016
"Orlok" is the name of the Count Dracula character in F. W. Murnau's German Expressionist horror film Nosferatu (1922). Although Murnau based his film on Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel "Dracula," he could not obtain the rights to adapt the novel, so he changed the names of all the characters to avoid being sued by Stoker's widow, Florence. Florence Stoker sued Murnau anyway.
- #017
It was the first prestigious feature film for production designer and writer Polly Platt, who was then married to director Peter Bogdanovich. The two would go on to collaborate on several more films.
- #018
It was Peter Bogdanovich's first directorial effort.
- #019
The film was edited into a "GP"-rated version and re-released only once, in 1971, mainly to capitalize on the popularity of another Peter Bogdanovich-directed film then in theaters, The Last Picture Show (1971). All subsequent home video releases were uncut.
- #020
The film's drive-in scenes were shot at the since-closed Reseda Drive-In Theatre in Reseda, California, as clearly shown in the framing and on the cinema tower. Early in the film, the Sepulveda Drive-In Theatre in Van Nuys, California, is briefly shown in the background as Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) drives along the freeway. In his DVD commentary, however, director Peter Bogdanovich mistakenly identifies this location as the Reseda Drive-In Theatre.
- #021
Paramount Pictures bought the film for $150,000.00 ($1,433,867 in 2026), instantly earning both co-producer Roger Corman and co-producer/director Peter Bogdanovich $20,000.00 ($191,182 in 2026) in profit before it had even been released.
- #022
Frank Marshall's parents and his girlfriend at the time appear as moviegoers in the drive-in scenes. The film's tracking shot also shows the father who is shot, despite the horror of the son sitting beside him in one of the cars.
- #023
After this film was completed, Paramount signed Peter Bogdanovich to a seven-picture deal.
- #024
It was Frank Marshall's first feature film.
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