Sean Pertwee Movies

A professional thief finds his luck going from bad to worse when he's sent to Russia to steal a priceless antique crucifix and becomes the terrified target of a serial killer who takes the title of "headhunter" all too seriously. Career larcenist Ritchie Donovan (Stephen Dorff)'s latest job has just ended in tragedy, and he still owes a fortune to a fearsome Russian godfather. Fortunately for Ritchie, the crime kingpin is feeling especially benevolent today, and offers the luckless cat burglar one last chance to settle his debt. All Ritchie has to do is travel to Moscow, ascent a skyscraper penthouse, crack the safe, and steal an antique crucifix. It couldn't have been a simpler plan, but when the robbery ends in murder and police surround the building, Ritchie and the gang are forced to take hostages. Just as it begins to appear as if all hope is lost, the elevator that Ritchie and his fellow gangsters are traveling on comes to a complete stop on the building's unused thirteenth floor. But landing on the thirteenth floor of this building may not have been the lucky break it first appeared, because lying in wait on the hidden level is a serial killer with a knack for collecting heads. He makes no secret of his hobby either, because his gruesome trophies line these seldom-wandered halls like a nightmarish testament to the ultimate gamesman. With the cops closing in from below, psychotic Russian gangsters on all sides, panicked hostages freaking out, and a homicidal maniac somewhere too close for comfort, all Ritchie cares about now if getting his feet back on the ground before he loses his head. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This ambitious, four-hour cable miniseries stars Jeremy Sisto (taking time off from his regular series Six Feet Under) as Roman general-turned-emperor Julius Caesar. Expensively filmed in Malta and Bulgaria, the production vividly traces Caesar's rise to prominence as a brilliant military tactician (with remarkably accurate battle scenes); his complex relationships with his mentor General Pompey (Chris Noth) and his second wife Calpurnia (Valeria Golino); his ideological tiltings with Senator Cato (Christopher Walken), who advocates democracy over Caesar's dictatorial ambitions; and his bloody (but inevitable) murder at the hands of former friends and allies. Taking some dramatic license with the facts, the film is basically sympathetic to its subject, although Caesar is depicted as a flawed man, both physically and morally. Giving Caesar points for being fundamentally honorable, in full possession of his faculties, and possessing the "common touch" with the Roman citizenry, the teleplay does not shrink away from the man's violent epileptic seizures, his megalomania, his casually calculated cruelties, and his bigamous relationship with Egyptian queen Cleopatra (Samuela Sardo). Interestingly enough, however, the miniseries downplays his notorious bisexuality ("Every man's woman and every woman's man"). In his final performance, Richard Harris appears as Caesar's wily bête noire, Roman dictator Sulla. Caesar was first telecast in the U.S. on June 29-30, 2003, by the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A kind of "best-of" account of the books of Genesis and Exodus, this two-part NBC miniseries aired in November 2000. Part One, set in the desert, covers the stories of Abraham (Martin Landau), Sarah (Jacqueline Bisset), Isaac (Sean Pertwee), Rebeccah (Diana Rigg), Esau (Andrew Grainger), and Jacob (Frederick Weller) and culminates with the enslavement of Joseph (Eddie Cibrian). Part Two, set in biblical Egypt, focuses on the story of Moses (Billy Campbell) and his deliverance of his people from slavery. Also included in the miniseries' huge and illustrious cast are Alan Bates as Jethro, Geraldine Chaplin as Yocheved, and Jonathan Firth as Joshua. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

In 1976 a group of English villagers led by cop Carl (Nick Brimble) journey to a remote house where they discover a traumatized man and the corpse of his wife. Twenty-three years later, the remote house is home to Martin (Sean Pertwee), a burned-out novelist, and his American wife Ellen (Amanda Plummer), who have settled there following the freak death of their young son. Faster than you can say "Heeere's Johnny!" weird things start to happen: Ellen becomes convinced that she's going to die, while Martin's behavior is increasingly erratic and combative. Ellen decides to solve the mystery of her lodgings, which locals insist is located on a primeval bog with a somewhat unpalatable history. Although set in England, this film was actually shot in the Czech Republic. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Best known for his Highlander series, Russell Mulcahy pays homage to the Hammer films of the 1960s with this all-star recreation of the Mummy story. Centuries ago, a sadistic prince named Talos was buried and his tomb was infinitely cursed so that no man would ever again suffer from his evil ways. But hundreds of years later, a group of archeologists break the seal of the tomb and are brutally massacred. The bandages of Talos are discovered years later by the head archeologist's daughter and brought back to London to be displayed in a museum. But the bandages go on a violent rampage. His evil threatens to spread around the world when the approaching alignment of the planets will raise the legendary Talos to a level of immortal power. The American detective in charge of the affair and the daughter of the archeologist race against time to defeat the malicious mummy. Russell Mulcahy has modern computer graphics techniques on his side in this remake of the classic Mummy monster story. At the same time, he has invited the legendary Christopher Lee to appear in the role of the ill-fated archeologist who discovers Talos. Shelley Duvall and Jason Scott Lee round out the main cast. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

An undercover cop finds that the line between his own personality and that of the character he's created have begun to dangerously blur in this drama. John (Reece Dinsdale) is a British police detective whose skill is matched only by his arrogance. Acts of brutal hooliganism have become commonplace at the football matches featuring one of London's minor league teams, Shadwell Town, and the police suspect that there is a more criminal undercurrent to these actions than merely fandom gone wrong after a few pints of beer. So John is made part of an undercover team along with Trevor (Richard Graham) and two other officers; they are to blend in with the most rabid fans and learn what is behind the violence. John also makes the acquaintance of Lydia (Saskia Reeves), a barmaid at a pub where many of the hooligans hang out, he and becomes friendly with her as a way of obtaining more information. But as John sinks deeper into a life of alcohol and violence while hanging out with the Shadwell Town hooligans, he finds he likes it more and more, and in time, he finds that he's becoming one of the brutal thugs he set out to capture. He also finds his relationship with Lydia is no longer just a matter of business, much to the chagrin of his wife Marie (Claire Skinner). I.D. marked the feature debut for British director Philip Davis, who also directed several distinguished productions for U.K. television. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This 90-minute Cadfael mystery gets under way when the lovely Iveta (Tara Fitzgerald) balks at the prospect of her arranged marriage to the wealthy and powerful Baron Huon. Amateur sleuth Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) of Shrewbury Abbey is drawn in to the situation when both the Baron and Iveta's guardian are found dead. Who did it? And why did the Baron ride off to parts unknown on the day of his wedding? Adapted by Paul Pendar from the novel by Ellis Peters, "The Leper of St. Giles" was originally telecast in England on June 12, 1994, then subsequently aired on the American public-TV anthology series Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted for television by Russell Lewis from the novel by Ellis Peters, "Monk's Hood" was the fourth in a series of 90-minute Cadfael mysteries. In 12th century Shrewsbury, a young man is murdered, apparently so that the killer can get his or her hands on the victim's inheritance. Investigating the case, warrior-turned-monk Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) is enmeshed in the bureaucracy of conflicting Welsh and Norman Laws. Complicating matters is the fact that the dead man was killed by one of Cadfael's own poisonous concoctions -- and, even more intriguing, the victim's widow Aldith (Sophie Lawrence) was Cadfael's childhood sweetheart. First broadcast in England on June 19, 1994, "Monk's Hood" appeared in America a few months later as part of the PBS anthology Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Winner directs a curious amalgam of his own Death Wish and Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45, in this intense, post-feminist serial-killer movie, based on the bestseller by Helen Zahavi. After an explosive love affair crashes and burns, Bella (Lia Williams) leaves London for Brighton, where she begins to receive a series of obscene telephone calls from her deranged neighbor. Soon her neighbor also begins to stalk her. When the local police refuse to help her, Bella determines to take the matter into her own hands. Finally, at the urging of a loony Asian clairvoyant (Ian Richardson), Bella sneaks into the stalker's apartment in the dead of night and beats him to death with a claw-hammer. And to Bella's surprise, she finds that she likes it. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Three decades after a major country is quarantined in hopes of containing a lethal and highly contagious virus nicknamed "Reaper," signs that the super-bug has resurfaced in a major city prompt desperate specialists to race back into the infected zone to find a cure in director Neil Marshall's (The Descent) miasmic speculative sci-fi thriller. Few could have foreseen the terror that the microorganism known as "Reaper" would unleash upon the unsuspecting population, and when terrified authorities quarantined the entire country in hopes of saving the human race, the streets immediately descended into chaos. Thirty years later, the inhabitants of planet Earth think that they've seen the last of the merciless killer disease, but they couldn't be more wrong. When "Reaper" reappears more powerful than ever in a major city, an elite group of professionals led by Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) are forced to travel back into the sealed-off country where the virus first broke out in order to create a cure and save humankind from certain doom. Now, as the rest of the world anxiously awaits word of their ultimate fate, Eden and her brave team are about to find out that there is indeed a hell, and they are about to journey directly into its black, envenomed heart. Also in the cast are Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell, as well as a host of veterans from Marshall's past productions, including Sean Pertwee, MyAnna Buring, Craig Conway, and Nora-Jane Noone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When the students of a remote boarding school begin receiving text messages that claim to grant the recipient's greatest wish, it quickly becomes apparent that there is a heavy tool to pay for making one's wildest fantasy a reality. Dominique Pinon and Rick Warden star in this made-for-mobile phone horror series that's even more frightening on television than it was on your cell phone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide