Two disparate storylines are neatly tied together in this quiet little debut feature by film critic Bogdanovich by a common concern with the nature of the images people have of themselves and their world. Both stories climax together, with O'Kelly trapped between a huge drive-in screen featuring the elderly Karloff walking towards him and the real Karloff doing the same. In confusion, he shoots at both. Reality is so fragmented that no one is truly connected to the world anymore, and the distance between what we see and what is real has become so great that even death is robbed of its meaning.
Targets is a splendid film given the constraints under which it was made.
It has the amateurish feeling of a film made in a hurry, but the confidence with physical action that a cinematically aware director has brought to the project. Bogdanovich moves and speaks like an amateur, but the intertextuality and enthusiasm are irresistible. As the killer, O'Kelly exudes friendly normalcy, and never resorts to facial twitches or flashing eyebrows to denote his insanity. Actions speak louder than words, and Bogdanovich's camera calmly watches as he picks off motorists one by one with the distant disinterest of a true sociopath. This bespeaks a confidence not expected of a director in Bogdanovich's position, but which is welcome nonetheless.