Just because the movie has a horror movie star in it doesn't automatically make it a horror movie, that genre tag needs to be taken down. What happens in the movie is 'horrific' no doubt, but so is the stuff that happens in disaster movies, no one goes around tagging them 'Horror'.
shareThe tag doesn't mean it's a horror flick, just that there's some horror in it. Boris Karloff basically plays himself when it was shot in 1967 -- an aged horror icon who wants to retire because he's weary of the biz and thinks modern American life has become more horrifying than his old-fashioned horror movies.
One of the themes is the thin line between reality and art, the relationship between real-life and films (in this case, horror films). For instance, the killer loading his rifle is paralleled with the projectionist loading his projector at the drive-in. Also, the slayer confuses the old man intently moving toward him (Karloff) with the actor's character on the big screen.
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Either Bogdonavich or his then-wife who also made this movie said in an interview- Roger Corman had them working on The Terror, i.e. the gothic movie with Jack Nicholson and Karloff which appears in Targets as a 'movie-within-a-movie.' It was meant to be a throwback to classic golden age horror movies, but Bogdonovich and his wife had a conversation that went along the lines of "Wow, this sort of thing isn't scary or horrorifying these days, not even remotely. It would have been scary 40 years ago but now it's just corny and boring. What happened?" The decided it was because the modern world had become scarier over time. They thought about what was the scariest thing in the present. After a while they settled on "Random long distance murder. These psychos who kill people for no reason with mail bombs, or sniper rifles from a mile away." They decided that was the new true horror of that current era.
I think they had a good point, and I also think you can take your opinion and cram it.
Interesting analysis, must check this one out. Where did you read the interview?
shareIt was a bonus on the new Criterion blu-ray, an old interview with Bogdonavich's ex-wife. But I can't remember if she was recounting what she herself said or what Peter said.
shareIt was a bonus on the new Criterion blu-ray, an old interview with Bogdonavich's ex-wife. But I can't remember if she was recounting what she herself said or what Peter said.
EDIT: I only hit submit once, I swear =P
I'd say it's more of a thriller.
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