Targets (1968) ****

A slow burn with a terrifically tense finale, Peter Bogdanovich's Targets (1968) is innovative, clever, challenging, and horrifying. A prescient and unnervingly realistic film about the clash of old and new, the proliferation of guns, and acts of random violence, Targets features a poignant performance by Boris Karloff in one of his final roles. It remains an incredibly effective and brilliantly assured feature debut by Bogdanovich.

Recommended for fans of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (review), The Parallax View (1974) (review), and Blow Out (1981) (review).