Bo Svenson Movies
Born in Sweden, Bo Svenson moved to the U.S. at the age of 17. Before settling upon an acting career, the husky Svenson attended UCLA, served in the Marines for six years, then worked as a hockey player, race-car driver and 3rd Degree Black Belt judo champ. His first regular TV work was on the 1968 western series Here Come the Brides, in which he was cast to type as Big Swede (though by this time, he had lost all vestiges of his Scandinavian accent). After an impressive movie debut in the little-seen Maury (1974), Svenson was second-billed as Alex Olsson, competitor-cum-partner of barnstorming aviator Robert Redford, in The Great Waldo Pepper (1973). When Joe Don Baker, star of the 1973 sleeper Walking Tall, passed on the opportunity to play Sheriff Buford Pusser in the 1975 sequel, Svenson inherited the role; he would portray Pusser in both Part 2: Walking Tall (1975) and The Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977), then repeated the assignment in the 1981 Walking Tall TV series. Perhaps someday, Bo Svenson will escape the sleazoid actioners in which he is usually starred, and receive a screen role worthy of his talents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine (aka Aldo the Apache," Brad Pitt) -- is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donnie Donowitz (aka "The Bear Jew," Eli Roth) and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), at a modest theater owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theater in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, (more)
A father who learns that his son has grown up become one of the most notorious serial killers in the history of mankind wrestles with the guilt that he may have been able to prevent his son's abhorrent crimes in this true crime thriller featuring Bo Svenson. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Cordes, Cathy Barnett, (more)
Quentin Tarantino's sprawling homage to action films of both the East and the West reaches its conclusion in this continuation of 2003's ultra-violent Kill Bill Vol. 1. Having dispatched several of her arch-enemies in the first film, The Bride (Uma Thurman) continues in Kill Bill Vol. 2 on her deadly pursuit of her former partners in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, who, in a furious assault, attempted to murder her and her unborn child on her wedding day. As The Bride faces off against allies-turned-nemeses Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), she flashes back to the day of her deadly wedding, and we learn of how she was recruited to join the DiVAS, her training under unforgiving martial arts master Pai Mei (Liu Chia-hui), and her relationship with Squad leader Bill (David Carradine), which changed from love to violent hatred. Originally planned as a single film, Kill Bill grew into an epic-scale two-part project totaling more than four hours in length; as with the first film, Kill Bill Vol. 2 includes appearances by genre-film icons Sonny Chiba, Michael Parks, Larry Bishop, and Sid Haig; Wu-Tang Clan producer and turntablist RZA and filmmaker and composer Robert Rodriguez both contributed to the musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, David Carradine, (more)
- 2004
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Alison Eastwood, daughter of actor/director Clint Eastwood, stars in this made-for-TV nailbiter as Patricia Collins, a TV journalist who is summoned to the city morgue to look at the body of a young female murder victim. Patricia is shocked to discover that the dead girl is her exact double -- suggesting that she was killed in a case of mistaken identity by an unknown assailant. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that this disturbing incident is linked with the supposed death ten months earlier of Patricia's own father, whose body disappeared along with 200,000 dollars he had pulled out of the bank. And what has all this to do with a demented stalker who is plaguing Patricia via fax messages? Or, for that matter, with a shady fertility clinic, the specialty of which is in vitro fertilization of twins? From the "smart heroine isn't smart enough not to confront the villain alone" school of murder mysteries, Mary Higgins Clark's I'll Be Seeing You (based on a novel, as if there were any doubt) premiered December 19, 2004, on the PAX network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alison Eastwood, Bo Svenson, (more)
Perhaps the most highly anticipated film of 2003, Kill Bill Vol. 1 marked the return of renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino after a six-year hiatus. Re-teaming the director with Uma Thurman for the first time since 1994's Pulp Fiction, the film was originally the first half of what was to be a three-hour-plus movie before being split into two films. Thurman stars as The Bride, one-fifth of a team of assassins called DiVAS. When The Bride opts to leave the outfit for a life of marital bliss, it doesn't sit well with her boss, Bill (David Carradine), so he has her former cohorts, played by Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Michael Madsen, show up at the nuptials, leaving behind a blood bath. Miraculously, The Bride survives a bullet to the head and, four years later, she sets out for revenge against her four assassins and their employer. The story is concluded in Kill Bill Vol. 2, released six months later. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, (more)
Indications were that this action sequel was in trouble before production began, when the male lead from the first film, Keanu Reeves, declined a role in the follow-up. Sandra Bullock returns as Annie Porter, an accident-prone ditz who is thrilled when her boyfriend Alex (Jason Patric) presents her with two tickets for a cruise ship vacation to the Bahamas. The trip is a peace offering presented because Annie has just learned that Alex is a police officer who's been lying to her about his choice of profession. Little does the happy couple know that the disgruntled John Geiger (Willem Dafoe), designer of the ship's computer system, has plotted a violent takeover of the vessel and a diamond hijacking that puts everyone on board in mortal danger. Being the dashing police officer he is, Alex leaps into action and tries to stop Geiger, but not before the ship crashes at top velocity into a Caribbean port town. Sandra Bullock agreed to star in this flop of a sequel in order to get financial backing for a pet project, Hope Floats (1998), a low-budget drama that turned a healthy profit. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, (more)
- 1997
Timid Annie O'Keefe (Mädchen Amick) undergoes a successful heart transplant operation. While recovering, Annie undergoes a curious change in personality. The reason? It seems that the heart donor, outgoing socialite Suzanne Hawks (Monique Parent), had been murdered, and her killer is still at large. Gradually taking over Annie's brain and body, the down-but-not-out Suzanne is determined to bring her murderer to justice. Essentially a tour de force for the versatile Mädchen Amick, the made-for-cable Heartless was initially telecast by the USA network on November 5, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mädchen Amick, David Packer, (more)
Set in a post-nuclear-holocaust future, this sci-fi western takes place in the frontier city of New Hope, the only place around with a working oil refinery. Ever since a megalomaniac general and his followers took over the place, life has been miserable. Then a stranger, a man-of-few-words, comes to town. A quick-drawing gunslinger, he first joins the conquerors. As time passes, however, it rapidly becomes apparent that he really sides with the townsfolk, and when the time is right, he leads them into a violent uprising. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A tranquil Arizona community is being terrorized by a series of robberies staged by an elusive truck-stop bandit. In addition, a number of disreputable-looking strangers have descended upon the community in search of buried treasure. Fortuously visiting a friend who lives near the town in question, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) ends up helping the new, inexperienced sheriff handle the onslaught of trouble--which of course is capped by a murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This erotic drama with an undercurrent of sexual politics stars Shannon Whirry as Emanuelle Griffith, a sexy supermodel who's also an outspoken feminist activist. Emanuelle is kidnapped one night by Richard Tate (Michael Christian), a deranged voyeur who floods her limousine with ether then imprisons the model in a high-tech love nest, where he intends to psychologically torture her into becoming the submissive and attentive "perfect woman." When her several attempts to escape don't work, Emanuelle decides to play Richard's sick game and uses her obvious assets to seduce and then turn the tables on her captor. In the meantime, a private eye (Bo Svenson) and an LAPD detective (Tony Burton) are searching for the famous Emanuelle, but by the time they track her down, she may no longer need any male assistance. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
Fred Williamson directed and stars in this average action film as Col. Wright, who teams up with a paroled thief (Bo Svenson) and the former lover of a Colombian druglord to rescue the kidnapped World Security Ambassador. Henry Silva is the kingpin, and the film is full of nudity and violence, but fails to engage much interest. Despite a veteran cast which includes Chuck Connors, Sonny Landham, and Van Johnson, gratuitous strippers and prostitutes provide much of the visual interest. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
This moderately interesting actioner stars Fred Williamson (who also directed) as John Steele, a Chicago detective who travels to Dallas. His mission is to catch a lunatic assassin named Joe Keno (Doran Inghram), who sports a ponytail and uses a sword to kill. Steele's girlfriend (Phyllis Cicero) gets raped and murdered before having her head sent to him in a box, there is some kickboxing and Gulf War propaganda, and Bo Svenson appears as a tough-as-nails sheriff. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1990
After witnessing the cruelty of the dreaded SS, a German Naval officer begins to question his allegiance to the floundering Nazi party in this WW II drama set near the end of the war. He is stationed upon an island and is helping to prepare a missile attack on Washington, D.C. when the SS slaughter all the civilian residents there. Compounding the officer's dilemma is the fact that he has fallen in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
This blood-soaked, stomach-churningly gory Italian horror outing is set on a college campus in Miami and chronicles the grisly aftermath that occurs when a student is bitten by a lab animal and turns into a voracious, man-killing beast. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This low-budget Italian exercise stars Bo Svenson (in a ridiculous-looking fake beard) as a college professor who takes a group of American students to a remote Serbian village to witness an ancient Balkan religious service. Unbeknownst to the kids, Svenson has an ulterior motive: he intends to recruit Beverly (Mary Kohnert), the sole virgin of the group, to participate in the ceremony -- actually an occult ritual in which she is to become the Devil's bride. The kids learn of this treachery and try to escape aboard a moving train, but soon find that the engineer is none other than Satan himself, who causes the train to jump its tracks and speed off through the wilderness toward the village again. Most of the kids are destroyed in their attempts to avert the train's course -- all but Beverly, who has foiled the Devil's plan in her own way, thanks to an enigmatic flutist (Igor Pervic). Needless to say, the Evil One is not pleased. Released directly to video, this attractive-looking but rather hollow occult horror is related in name only to Mario Bava's penultimate Beyond the Door 2, which in turn bears almost no connection to Exorcist rip-off Beyond the Door (aka Chi Sei?). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1989
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This crazy-quilt melange was originally released as Andy Colby's Incredibly Awesome Adventure; apparently it was retitled to avoid confusion with the very similar Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Randy Josselyn plays Andy Colby, a 12-year-old videotape addict. Making a visit to the local rental store, Andy comes across a cassette titled "Incredible Video Adventure". A weird-looking video clerk (isn't that a bit redundant) warns Andy in Gremlins fashion that he must not sit too close to the TV while watching the tape, and he must never, ever let loose of the remote control. Alas, Andy breaks both those rules-whereupon he and his little sister Bonnie (Jessica Puscas) are sucked into a maelstrom of thrills and adventure. Most of the highlights are culled from previous Roger Corman productions like Space Raiders, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Deathsport, Chopping Mall and Wheels of Fire. In other words, it's a feature-length "cheater," a hodgepodge of past cinematic glories. The young stars perform as well as possible under the circumstances (it's hard to be convincing while reacting to stock footage), but the film's acting honors go to Chuck Kovacic as the wigged-out villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Kill Reflex is a Po' Boy production, produced and directed by that company's founder, Fred Williamson. Williamson also assumes the starring role in this violent throwback to the glory days of Blaxploitation. He plays a Chicago cop whose partner is killed; when he wants answers, he discovers that his superiors are covering up for someone. Unlike certain other African American stars, Fred Williamson is an equal opportunity butt-kicker; he'll knock the stuffings out of anyone, regardless of race, color or creed. Co-starring in Kill Reflex are one-time James Bond girl Maud Adams and former "Buford Pusser" Bo Svenson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Williamson, Maud Adams, (more)
- 1988
- R
A pair of Air Force pilots are sent to Nicaragua on a dangerous terrorist mission. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Williamson, Bo Svenson, (more)
- 1988
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is among the guests enjoying a skiing vacation at a mountain lodge. At least, she and the other guests were enjoying the vacation until they were all trapped in the lodge by a sudden blizzard. Among the others are a jealous husband, an outraged wife, a long-suffering agent and an abrasive champion skier. Before long, one of these characters is going to be murdered, and Jessica will try to figure out the killer's identity before he (or she) can strike again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
This in-name-only sequel to the mediocre H.P. Lovecraft adaptation The Curse is a slight improvement on its predecessor, eschewing any trace of Lovecraft in favor of a standard nuclear-mutant-beast plot but imbuing this theme with a menagerie of brain-damaged setpieces. When the protagonist and his girlfriend stumble across an abandoned atomic test site, he's bitten on the arm by an irradiated snake-monster; in a creative but excessively grotesque twist, only the venom-infected arm begins to undergo the inevitable transformation into a fanged beast (sort of a reptilian variant on Bruce Campbell's rebellious demonic hand in Evil Dead 2), which leads to some unpleasant quirks in the young couple's relationship. Before long, the poor guy becomes a veritable snake-factory, churning out baby serpents at an incredible clip. The performances are quite good and the makeup effects (by Screaming Mad George) deserve credit for their disgusting audacity. Very weird but more fun than its predecessor, this is probably the film that Sssss! wished it could have been. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Schoelen, J. Eddie Peck, (more)
- 1987
- R
A surprisingly slick flick from Emperor of Exploitation Fred Olen Ray, the story (which Ray co-wrote with T.L. Lankford, borrowing heavily from the director's earlier Biohazard) begins when a satellite carrying top-secret bio-engineered mutants plummets to Earth and disgorges its slavering contents in a scrap-yard outside Los Angeles. Hot on the beast's slimy trail are a pair of L.A. cops (Russ Meyer-veteran Charles Napier and the miscast Ann Turkel), who butt heads with their chief (Bo Svenson), the military, and the scientists who bred the monster -- until the inevitable confrontation, which features a no-holds-barred grudge match between the toothy slime-demon and a chainsaw-wielding Napier. Campy, fun performances by the talented leads (especially Julie Newmar as a psychic who assists the investigation) elevate this material far beyond the limitations of its hoary premise and Alien-esque monster. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Napier, Ann Turkel, (more)
- 1987
The second television film to capitalize on the classic original, The Deadly Mission concerns another team of convicts, this time assigned to rescue Nazi scientists working on a chemical-weapons project. Telly Savalas plays a different role than he did in the original (unlike Ernest Borgnine). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1987
In this mystical martial arts adventure set within the dark world of Japan's enigmatic Ninja fighters, the ancient warriors enter American society to try and deliver plutonium into the hands of a terrorist organization. To stop them, a brave gringo fighter infiltrates their ranks and high-flying mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Roberts, Jr., Page Leong, (more)
