Line #7 Film/Targets


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/targets_1968_poster.jpg]]
2
3	''Targets'' is a 1968 horror/thriller film, produced by Creator/RogerCorman and written and directed by Creator/PeterBogdanovich, that focuses on two men in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles.
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5	One is Byron Orlok (Creator/BorisKarloff), a beloved but aging horror film actor who has announced his decision to retire from film-making, feeling that RealLife is churning out more and far worse horrors than anything he can hope to put on screen. The other is young [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]] vet Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly), who unknowingly sets about proving Orlok's point when he finally snaps under the [[StepfordSuburbia soulless banality]] of his existence, gathers up an arsenal, and goes on a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman deadly shooting spree]]. Inevitably, the paths of the two men cross...
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7	The film is a worthy coda for Karloff's career, a fine directorial debut for Bogdanovich, and a symbolic [[GenreTurningPoint passing of the torch]] from one generation of movie-makers to the next.
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9	----
10	!!Tropes:
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12	* AdamWesting: PlayedForDrama. The aging veteran horror movie actor Boris Karloff, in one of his final roles, plays the aging veteran horror movie actor Byron Orlok, who's decided to retire because he thinks that real life is now scarier than any of his movies.
13	* AffablyEvil: After killing his wife and mother, Thompson, while buying numerous rounds, casually carries on a conversation with the gun store owner.
14	* AxCrazy: Thompson, when he finally snaps.
15	* BadassBystander: Several drive-in patrons break out guns when they realize a sniper is out there, and then there's Orlok...
16	* BedmateReveal: Orlok and Sammy get drunk and end up falling asleep in Sammy's bedroom. Sammy has a bad dream and [[CatapultNightmare startles himself awake]]:
17	-->'''Orlok:''' [''suffering from HangoverSensitivity''] Why did you yell?!\
18	'''Sammy:''' I was having a nightmare and I woke up next to Byron Orlok!\
19	'''Orlok:''' [''sourly''] Very funny.
20	* BenevolentBoss: Orlok towards his assistant Jenny. [[spoiler: Her being injured is part of what drives him to confront the shooter.]]
21	* CaneFu: Orlok disarms Thompson at the film's climax armed only with his cane.
22	* ColdSniper: Thompson is pretty calm during his shooting spree.
23	* CrapsackWorld: One of Orlok's reasons for retiring is that the real world is becoming more horrifying than the scary movies he made. Considering how Thompson's shooting spree ''was'' based on the real-life Whitman shootings, he's depressingly correct.
24	* DriveInTheater: Where the climax of the film takes place.
25	* DumbassDJ: Orlok has to suffer through an interview with Kip Larkin, the DJ who will be interviewing him as part of his personal appearance at the drive-in. It takes mere seconds for Orlok to tire of Larkin's stereotypical patter about how his station plays the grooviest tunes on the air, and Sammy is likewise frustrated that Larkin seems to be treating the interview as a chance to promote ''himself'' rather than Orlok.
26	* EndOfAnAge: Orlok's retirement signals an end to the Monster and MadScientist era of horror films... with Thompson's shooting spree [[DawnOfAnEra signaling the beginning]] of the next wave of horror based on [[HumansAreBastards human evils]] like [[SerialKiller serial killers]].
27	-->'''Orlok:''' The world belongs to the young. Make way for them. Let them have it. I am an anachronism.
28	* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Bobby Thompson has boyish good looks, but is a deranged mass murderer. The gun clerk that sells him a rifle even says he has a "nice face".
29	* GoodColorsEvilColors: All of Orlok's scenes are shot in mellow autumnal shades, while Thompson's are cold sterile blues.
30	* GunNut: Thompson has a truly staggering number of guns, and is a crack shot.
31	* LetMeTellYouAStory: Orlok gives a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe8Vpn9dgU8 lovely recitation]] of the story [[http://www.thestorytelling-resource-centre.com/Appointment_in_Samarra.html "An Appointment In Samarra."]] It doesn't seem to be told to anyone in particular, which would make it a StoryWithinAStory... though it could be meant for the moviewatchers.
32	%%* MalevolentArchitecture: The decor of Thompson's suburban home could drive anyone crazy.
33	* MeanCharacterNiceActor: In-universe, Orlok is one of these. He's built up a career playing monsters and maniacs, but off-camera he's clearly very kind and classy (again, just like Karloff himself). Thompson [[NiceCharacterMeanActor is the exact opposite]]; while he [[StepfordSmiler maintains the facade of a cheerful, normal, All-American youth]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing he really seems to be a monster on the inside]].
34	* MeaningfulName: Byron Orlok. The last name is borrowed from Count Orlok of ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'', the first name from Creator/LordByron. The name also sounds a little bit like Karloff's own name, of course.
35	* MetaCasting: Orlok is a beloved, distinguished horror actor known for his [[MeanCharacterNiceActor off-camera kindness despite playing lots of bad guys]], who's approaching the end of his career. Who better than Creator/BorisKarloff to play him?
36	* MirrorScare: At one point Orlok is startled by his own reflection, a bit suggested by Karloff himself. And during the final shooting spree at the drive-in, Thompson [[spoiler:is unable to determine which Orlok to shoot at: the one onscreen or the one [[ParanoiaFuel coming right at him]]]].
37	* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: The aging and elder Byron Orlok played by Boris Karloff pitted against the young and boyish-looking Bobby Thompson.
38	* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: The film has no music soundtrack, except for a tune heard on a car radio.
39	* ReluctantPsycho: Thompson fumblingly attempts to warn his wife about what is happening to him; when this fails, like his [[RippedFromTheHeadlines real-life inspiration]] Charles Whitman, he types up a note calmly detailing what he is about to do.
40	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: As noted, Bobby Thompson is loosely based on mass murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman Charles Whitman]], who two years prior to this film's release killed 14 and wounded 31 by sniping at them with a rifle from the observation deck of the 30-story tower building at the University of Texas in Austin.
41	* SelfMadeOrphan: Thompson. [[spoiler: At least with his mother; we never see him shoot his father.]]
42	* ShoutOut:
43	** Karloff's earlier films are referenced in this film as being part of Orlok's career; using the footage was part of the deal with Corman.
44	** At one point Orlok and screenwriter Sammy Michaels (played by Bogdanovich) are watching ''The Criminal Code'' (1931)--which starred Karloff and was directed by Creator/HowardHawks--prompting both men to sing the praises of Hawks as a filmmaker.
45	** Sammy Michaels was named for Creator/SamuelFuller, who helped write the film's screenplay.
46	* SilentCredits: As noted, the credits run music-free, though the opening ones play over a scene from Orlok's latest movie (actually StockFootage of Karloff in ''Film/TheTerror'').
47	* TheSixties: The setting, of course.
48	* SlasherMovie: One of the earliest examples along with ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' and ''Film/BlackChristmas1974'', though this one is more of the gun-toting kind (in a similar vein as the SubGenre's textbook example ''Film/TheTerminator'') than the usual knifing type.
49	* SpreeKiller: Bobby Thompson is one of these, very clearly [[RippedFromTheHeadlines aping the sniper massacre]] of Charles Whitman. On a more meta level, this is one of the first films that showcased this kind of villain.
50	* StealthInsult:
51	-->'''[[DumbassDJ Kip Larkin]]:''' Mr. O, I must have dug your flicks like four zillion times! You ''blew my mind!''
52	-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Orlok]]:''' Obviously.
53	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: Byron and Bobby's stories, which converge for the finale.
54	* WouldHurtAChild: As Thompson opens fire on the drive-in theater, we hear a child crying. A shot rings out. [[NothingIsScarier The child stops crying.]]

Context Film / Targets