Late Karloff

 

 

 (imdb)

TARGETS-1968-Famous horror star Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) decides to retire. He feels he's too old to be working. His director Sammy (Peter Bogdanovich) tries to talk him out of it. His personal assistant Jenny (Nancy Hsueh) isn't happy either. Meanwhile, local boy Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) stockpiles guns and ammo. He seems to have something terrible in mind. 

Though it appears he has a nice family life with his parents and wife, his domineering father and guns seem to occupy his life. There's obviously something wrong but no one seems to realize it. While Orlok agrees to do a live drive-In appearance, Bobby goes on a killing spree. After shooting and killing from a tower overlooking a highway, Bobby hides out behind the screen of a drive-in movie where Orlok will make a personal appearance. After more killing, the two have a confrontation. (The real Karloff film THE TERROR is used on the screen). 

This is a great modern horror film made only because Karloff still owed producer Roger Corman a couple of days work and features one of Boris' best performances (his reciting of “The Appointment in Sumara” is awesome!) and it's only been in recent years that the film has been getting it's due. It was also release around the time of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy which caused AIP to withdraw the film then re-release it with a prologue about gun control. 

This is Karloff's last great performance. He made THE CRIMSON CULT a little later and two TV appearances. His last movies unfortunately were the four productions for Mexican producer Luis Enrique Vergara but all of Karloff's scenes were shot in LA by Jack Hill. 

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!