Reviews (17)

Victims of the Screen World
Peter Bogdanovich produced, directed, edited and wrote the screenplay to TARGETS. The film has a curious and dichotomous quality to it. On one hand Bogdanovich handled the sniper (a very clean-cut Tim O'Kelly) in a very real, threatening and unprecedented way for its time. O'Kelly looks so much like the all-American kid from next door that he is all the more frightening making the film very unsettling. O'Kelly munches on a sandwich and guzzles down soda in-between his targets. Moreover the sniper is ferreted out by a famous horror film idol (Boris Karloff) from the golden age of Hollywood. The confrontation comes at a drive-in theatre of all places in an unusual climax. The film is suspenseful and alluring. Once you start watching it you're hooked. Is there a message to this film? Perhaps there is. The finale is almost pure hokum, but perhaps that is the point. Leave the killings, the violence and horror up on the screen. Don't let it escape into the real world. Get your jollies at the movies then drive home and lead a normal life. Perhaps that was true 30 years ago.

A Forgotten Gem.
TARGETS was the directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich and was one of the last films that Boris Karloff ever made. The movie ties two seemingly separate stories together and unites them in a climax at a drive-in movie theatre. Karloff plays an aged actor famous for his roles in horror movies who decides to retire. He agrees to make one last public performance before moving back to Europe permanently. Meanwhile, Tim O'Kelly plays a psychopath who murders his wife and mother before going on a shooting rampage with a sniper rifle. It's quite intriguing how the two stories connect and are finally tied together in the end.
The movie causes one to think and is a good film to watch nowadays to consider the impact media may or may not have upon violence.

There are several scenes in the film worthy of discussion, but two particularly stick out in my mind. The first one is when Karloff awakens in the morning and startles himself in the mirror. It makes me wonder how much of a success he might have had as a comedian. The second scene is when Karloff's character is discussing what to do at the drive-in as his swan song and he decides to tell a story. The story he tells is "Death Speaks" by W. Somerset Maugham. Hearing the story told by Karloff can give one the chills just by listening to it.

Overall, a fine little movie worth watching.

a grand exit (well cose to an exit)
corman wows here and reminds us that we really lost a very good director when he decided to devote all of his time to producing.
regardless, forget those last, depressing mexican horror quickies that karloff wheezed his poor dying self through. keep this as his bow. it's a nice summation of a glorious career.

Ahead of Its Time
Peter Bogdanovich produced, directed, edited and wrote the screenplay to TARGETS. The film has a curious and dichotomous quality to it. On one hand Bogdanovich handled the sniper (a very clean-cut Tim O'Kelly) in a very real, threatening and unprecedented way for its time. O'Kelly looks so much like the all-American kid from next door that he is all the more frightening making the film very unsettling. O'Kelly munches on a sandwich and guzzles down soda in-between his targets. Moreover the sniper is ferreted out by a famous horror film idol (Boris Karloff) from the golden age of Hollywood. The confrontation comes at a drive-in theatre of all places in an unusual climax. The film is suspenseful and alluring. Once you start watching it you're hooked. Is there a message to this film? Perhaps there is. The finale is almost pure hokum, but perhaps that is the point. Leave the killings, the violence and horror up on the screen. Don't let it escape into the real world. Get your jollies at the movies then drive home and lead a normal life. Perhaps that was true 30 years ago.

Lost Treasure
Boris Karloff gave one of his finest performances in this film and proved that he didn't have to be the movie's monster to be the star. The transfer quality is excellent, the special features aren't much but they provide great value. It was a kick for me seeing LA in the '60s and ztill recognizing landmarks. I was especially impressed with the funky 60's decor in the killer's house - it looked like the house I grew up in! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

gorey but all together low budget and [poor] acting
this film as gore filled as you could expect from the title is shameful, i have never witnessed such poor acting, lack of storyline and over embelishment of fake blood. The main characters are as wooden as well, wood! all in all the £4 i paid to rent it was wasted, if your looking for blood and gore this is your film but if you want something that resembles a storyline you're better off reading a book, i still cant believe i sat through the whole thing.

Quit While You're Ahead
I won't go into the plot since it is well described in another review. My problem with this film is that it is just too long and directionless. Early in the film it is a half decent black comedy with over the top gore (which prevents it from becoming scary or suspenseful), and the special f/x and performances are pretty good for the very low budget. But after a while the constant bickering between the cannibalistic family members just becomes annoying and the wait for anything resembling a plot progression becomes unbearable. It seems the scriptwriter's main goal was to showcase his skill at penning insults. Read Peter Milligan's graphic novel "Eaters" instead for a black comedy about a family of cannibals that has actual wit and biting satire.

Nobody told us not to blow the entire budget on gore
Skinned Alive is a gory movie; that's all it tries to be, and it is succeeds in that endeavor. Although it wasn't quite as shocking as I expected and hoped it would be, it's still much more blood and guts than your normal, non-horror addict would want to see. I wish I could say that the title accurately reflects what happens in this movie, but I cannot-on occasion, people are killed before actually being skinned. What we have here is a truly dysfunctional family traveling the country pending their wares-they are tanners, you see, but their product is unique in the trade. Cows aren't good enough for them; they will settle for nothing less than human skin; naturally, that involves some poor unfortunate victims having to donate their skins unwillingly, but every entrepreneurial endeavor has its problems. The head of the family is "Crawldaddy," a crippled, foul-mouthed, one-eyed, twisted woman who continually berates and beats up on her two adult children and often insists on being called Daddy. Then there is her son Phink, who can actually pass for halfway normal at times, but is prone to frequent fits of annoying laughter and blunt instrument-swinging. The young lass completing the insane trio is Violet, chief skinner of the group and a woman who really enjoys her work. There's also a little incestuous thing going on between brother and sister, as if they aren't dark and twisted enough already. After killing a hitchhiker and an overweight stranded motorist, the family faces a major setback, namely the failure of their van to start. By necessity only, they come to town to get the van fixed, and the exceedingly naïve mechanic Tom puts them up in his own house for the night. The family quickly gets back to work, going on something of a major killing spree. There is an ex-cop living next door, but his perpetual state of complete inebriation is a definite handicap in terms of his discovering and trying to stop the killers. There is a weird but not wholly unexpected twist at the end, but it's nothing to get excited about.

If you like to see blood, then you may want to have a look at this schlock horror film. There's plenty of it, and the gory effects are rather well done for the most part. You've got knife wounds, stabbings, and impalements; blows to the head, body, and legs with hammers and mallets; and very satisfyingly realistic gunshot wounds. One of the guys gets his hand on a machine gun, and, let me tell you, he doesn't believe that overkill is a bad thing at all. I am pretty confident in saying that this is a movie for gore lovers only; the flimsy plot, exceedingly atrocious acting, and occasional ill-designed attempts at some sort of comedy offer nothing on their own to even the sickest of horror fans. I can sum this movie up in three words: blood, guts, cursing. That's pretty much all there is to Skinned Alive. ... Read more

Reviews (92)

Uh, It Was..... Wierd.
OK Just for a warning. I just finished watching this movie, so maybe my opinion isn't the best. I usually watch a movie and don't like it, but then when I watch it again I like it. However, I don't want to watch this one again. I found it quite boring and it unfortunately departed from the story set by The Exorcist and Exorcist 2 The Heretic. To be perfectly honest, I LOVED the 2nd film, and I think this one should have followed where that one ended. But, William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist 3 goes in a completely different direction. Not like Halloween 3 Season Of The Witch (which I loved), but it doesn't have Kitty Winn, or Linda Blair, and that's unfortunate.

The film begins confusing enough (only to get more confusing in the end) with some weird "Dream Sequence" and then goes on so that we can meat Lt. William Kinderman (George C Scott), the officer who knew Father Karras (Jason Miller). It is now the 15th anniversary of Karras' death, as he fell out a window while exorcising little Reagan. Kinderman begins to investigate a handfull of deaths that are in the exact same way "The Gemini Killer" murdered his victoms. Meanwhile, there's a paitient in room 11 who looks just like Karras, and claims to be The Gemini Killer. The movie then starts to fade as "The Gemini Killer" starts babbling about rturning from the dead and it all gets very confsing just to lead to a dissapointing conclusion.

...the moment it began, I got bored and went to take a nap (a 3 hour one) and the next day I watched THE WHOLE THING. Despite my hearts protests to turn the movie off and ditch it. Well, after watching it, I thought "Wow. The biggest waste of time movie EVER. And I just watched it". Well, I haven't gained anything from watching it as I did watching the firstand second.

If you ACTUALLY DID enjoy William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist 3, I'd recomend the first and second film, as well as the Omen Trilogy.

LEGION A MOVIE GREAT ON ITS OWN TERMS!
To start off with, this movie should have been called " Legion " not " Exorcist 3 "; obviously, Mr. William Peter Blatty { in a director debut nothing short of astonishing } was under some studio pressure to sell the movie as a sequel to attract mviegoers. " Legion " is a continuation of Det. Kinderman---played wonderfully and world weary by the magnificant George C. Scott---dealing with grisly murders that AT FIRST appear to be the work of a copycat of the ruthless and evil " Gemmini Killer "
James Venemin. But later on Kinderman gets more than he ever bargined for: following the murder of his friend Father Dyer who is admitted into a hospital { a gruesome one that appears to be the work of the killer Kinderman is after }, the detective is blown away to find in a " isolation tank " in the psyche ward of the hospital...Father Karras! But Father Karras is claiming to be James Venimen , who appears often to the viewer as a particular psychopathic Brad Douriff { who is iddeally evil here playing the role with satanic glee }!

This movie contains very little gore; is thought provoking, atmospheric and VERY scary. And seeing the " Exorcist " s 1 or 2 is completly uneccesary to understand it and to enjoy this movie which deals with the evils of Man, as one reviewer said befor, the silence of God, demons both figuritively and literly, and most compelling, Kinderman's stuggling faith.

Kaenan James

Nothing can beat the original
This one sucks, and I never even seen it, The first one was the best, its declared as the scariest movie ever. none of these even comes close.

Wonderfully directed, but a little too "talky"
I really tried hard to find something--anything--to push this film over into the 4 star territory, but I just could not do it. That would be dishonest of me to give the impression that it was of film of such classic status.
Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a worthwhile movie and not a waste of time to watch by any means. Blatty's directing is very unique and at times extremely artistic in its creepiness. He is incredibly talented at creating an eerie vibe by using bizarre camera shots and borderline psychedelia, and personally I think he should have directed more horror films. The story, within the world of the Exorcist films, is believable and not necessarily a "roll your eyes in disbelief" kind of plot. Bringing back Jason Miller lends credibility to it that may not have been given otherwise.
My only gripes are the confused acting of George C. Scott--not his typical kind of role and I just don't see him meshing with the strange behavior of Kinderman all that well--and the extraordinary amount of dialogue. Blatty likes to really bash us over the head with conversations, especially between Scott and Brad Dourif. These seemingly endless rantings get very tiresome after the first five minutes of sitting there watching these guys go back and forth, not to mention having to deal with Dourif's constant overacting. Blatty wants us to know just how clever he can be (as well as how nonsensical he can be, considering some of Scott's lines), but this is overkill.
Aside from those points, it is certainly a very visually enthralling film. I remember reading about TE3 in Fangoria before it came out and, upon seeing the final product, noticed that some of the gorier scenes--which had clearly been filmed--were left out. One scene I recall from a photo in the magazine showed the priest in the confessional holding his head in his lap after the old lady got to him. Removing that was probably a good decision since this sort of film leaves the horror to your own imagination rather than shoving it in your face.

The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is fantastic.I had heard so many good things about it and it was everything I expected.George C. Scott does an amazing and touching job as Lt. Kinderman.Jason Miller reprises his role as the priest from the original.The characters are great.The dialogue is reasonable.The plot is great.Even though it isn't better than the original it is an excellent sequel.The story really interested me.I'm glad they talked about the stairs from the original and included it in this one.(SPOILERS)The voice in the reconciliation scene was really creepy.The way they described one of the priests and black boys death was terrible but also interesting.Make sure to check this one out.A woman crawls by unnoticed - on the ceiling like a fly.A long- dead killer claims victim after victim.Flames erupt, snakes slither, the ground opens and reveals a writhing pit of the damned.The evil is back.(8/10)

"Amazing! A sequel that stands on its own and still creeps me out at times."

-- Robin Clifford, REELING REVIEWS ... Read more

Reviews (11)

very nice story, a lesson for all

A FAMILY THING

Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones, Michael Beach, Irma P. Hall, 1995

Synopsis

An Arkansas man (Duvall) in his 60's finds out, after his mother dies, that his birth mother was a black woman, who died giving birth to him. He then goes to Chicago to find his half brother (Jones), who does not want anything to do with him. It is thru his Aunt T. (his birth mother's sister) that the two men grow to understand the truth of their relationship.

My Review

You can't go wrong with Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones. Irma P. Hall (grandmama from 'Soul Food') gives a great performance giving this movie that special boost that makes it worth seeing and talking about. The flashback scene near the end of the film is superb. An interesting and touching story.

MOVIE BY OUTSTANDING VETERAN ACTORS FOR EVERYONE
Oddly enough, I purchased this video from a bargain bin of pre-viewed tapes at a local video store. The cast led by Robert Duvall (Earl Pilcher Jr.) and James Earl Jones (Ray Murdock ) was enough to peak my interest. I had not heard of FAMILY THING until taking it home that evening. This is the poignant story of an intense midlife crisis lived through by an ordinary middle aged white Arkansan, played by Duvall. Head of an extended family, upon his mother's death Pilcher is handed her personal letter to him by their family minister. Her letter says, his secret birth mother was his adoptive mother's then taboo Black friend. Also, he has an older half brother Ray Murdock (skillfully played by James Earl Jones). This is how the story begins. A central character named Aunt T (Murdock's surrogate mother) is so well played by veteran actress Irma P. Hall that her not receiving a nomination for an Academy Award cannot so easily be explained as an oversight. The tensions, ironies and intense character developments interpreted by Duvall and Jones keeps this movie alive from beginning to its happily resolved end. It is too bad that censors in Hollywood were embarassed by common and infrequent street talk and a mild childbirth scene in a flashback. Making an optimistic guess, these innocent segments alone led to the movie's PG-13 rating. Yet it contains important social and family messages that should be received by all children (and adults). Having raised four of my own, my position would have been to allow my nine years old and older to see Family Thing on their own.

IMPORTANT AND WELL MADE MOVIES STILL CAN BE SEEN AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM. Family Thing is one of them.

One Great Movie!
To make a long story short, this is one awesome movie. I'm proud to own it on dvd. I highly recommend it. This movie plainly proves that we're all God's children, pure and simple!

EXCELLENT MOVIE -- A FAMILY THING
When my husband asked me to watch this with him, I was like "ok, there's nothing on cable, might as well". I wasn't really thrilled about watching it but to my surprise it is one of the BEST movies I have ever seen. Robert Duvall is super in this movie not to mention James Earl Jones. This movie really says it all "it doesn't matter your color...family is family, it's just A FAMILY THING. I give this 2 thumbs up and 5 stars.

Overlooked masterpiece
When I looked over the video box and saw the fine cast, I rented this movie expecting some enjoyable but fluffy entertainment. However, this sleeper turned out to be a true masterpiece, easily making my list of all-time best. Within the first few minutes, Robert Duvall gives us a study in fine acting when he confronts his father with the mother's letter about their long-buried family secret. And how many people would recognize the authentic Southern slang when James Earl Jones declares, "I ain't studyin' you!"

The only flaw I can find in this picture is the jarring music that inappropriately breaks the mood to introduce the final credits. But that's the only one, a millionth of a percent. I will snap up the DVD now that it is available.

Good story, great cast, engrossing from beginning to end. So why didn't this movie receive more attention? Was it because it isn't the kind that generates huge box office receipts? Was it moviedom politics? Or did the reconciliation between brothers who grew up on different sides of the color line make the p.c. types, the ones for whom injustice and victimhood are the only valid racial topics, uncomfortable? ... Read more