Tom Rack Movies

Professional journalist Lisa (Tracy Nelson) is certain that she has landed the perfect spouse when she weds the brilliant and charismatic widowed author Ty Kellington (Michael Riley). Only gradually does Kellington reveal himself to be possessive and tyrannical -- and only after Lisa's onetime co-worker Matt Thompson (Thomas Calabro) offers her a prestigious radio job does Kellington's dangerous side make itself known to both Lisa and her terrified sister, Beverly (Andrea Roth). Our heroine's access to her friends and family members is completely cut off after she injures her ankle in an accident, rendering her virtually captive to her increasingly unhinged husband. First broadcast in Canada in 2003, the made-for-TV movie The Perfect Husband debuted in the U.S. via cable's Lifetime channel on February 12, 2004 -- only to be hastily retitled Her Perfect Spouse to avoid confusion with another cable effort, The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story, telecast the very same week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Canadian-U.S. co-production filmed in 1998, Someone is Watching stars Stefanie Powers as Michelle Dupree, who, with her adopted son, Cory (Mickey Toft), is painfully attempting to pick up the pieces after the pair has been terrorized by an intruder in their home. Hoping to start life anew in a different town, Michelle learns to her chagrin that she cannot entirely escape the traumas of her past, especially when she begins receiving threatening phone calls. Meanwhile, Cory has "adjusted" to the situation by inventing an imaginary friend, a monster residing in his closet. Before long, people start dying horribly -- including Bobby Culley (Martin Neufeld), the disturbed youth whom Michelle has suspected of making those crank calls. Can the killer actually be Cory's mythical "friend" -- or is something even more sinister occurring. Intended for theatrical play, Someone is Watching ended up on Canadian cable television before making its US debut over the Lifetime cable channel on January 10, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this chilling drama, a beautiful widow's gratitude turns to naked fear when she learns that a good Samaritan has been stalking her after saving the life of her son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this exploitation film, the KGB trains a sexy young spy-trainee to become an "all-American" temptress capable of seducing the secrets out of many US officials and businessmen. She will then use the resulting information to blackmail these men into serving her government. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sin City author Frank Miller's sweeping take on the historic Battle of Thermopylae comes to the screen courtesy of Dawn of the Dead director Zack Snyder. Gerard Butler stars as Spartan King Leonidas and Lena Headey plays Queen Gorgo. The massive army of the Persian Empire is sweeping across the globe, crushing every force that dares stand in its path. When a Persian envoy arrives in Sparta offering King Leonidas power over all of Greece if he will only bow to the will of the all powerful Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the strong-willed leader assembles a small army comprised of his empire's best fighters and marches off to battle. Though they have virtually no hope of defeating Xerxes' intimidating battalion, Leonidas' men soldier on, intent on letting it be known they will bow to no man but their king. Meanwhile, back in Sparta, the loyal Queen Gorgo attempts to convince both the skeptical council and the devious Theron (Dominic West) to send more troops despite the fact that many view Leonidas' unsanctioned war march as a serious transgression. As Xerxes' fearsome "immortals" draw near, a few noble Greeks vow to assist the Spartans on the battlefield. When King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors fell to the overwhelming Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, the fearless actions of the noble fighters inspired all of Greece to stand up against their Persian enemy and wage the battle that would ultimately give birth to the modern concept of democracy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

While on the routines of his job, a Montreal policeman (Michael Ironside) is tormented by flashbacks and hallucinations. He eventually traces the bizarre behavior to the LSD experiments of a CIA scientist (Christopher Plummer). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This little-known Robert DeNiro film is set several years after the war in Vietnam. DeNiro plays an unpredictably explosive war veteran, while Ed Harris co-stars as his army buddy, who's trying his best to forget his Vietnamese experiences by crawling into a bottle. While visiting Harris and Harris' sister Kathy Baker, DeNiro frightens both with his neurotic ramblings. Still, Baker is grateful that DeNiro's presence seems to be lifting Harris out of his deep funk. She encourages DeNiro to stay on for a while, thereby setting the stage for a blossoming romance. Baker has no way of knowing that Harris' depression has been brought about by the death of a wartime pal--a death he blames on DeNiro. Violence threatens to erupt at every turn in Jacknife, but the film refuses to play down to its audience by wallowing in the obvious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fourth of the Hallmark Channel's feature-length "Sherlock Holmes" tales, Holmes (Matt Frewer) and Watson (Kenneth Welsh) investigate a series of savage murders apparently committed by a vampire -- and all occurring in the same Whitechapel district previously terrorized by Jack the Ripper. Holmes' services have been engaged by Brother Marstroke (Shawn Lawrence), who years earlier had lost an entire mission in British Guyana to an invading horde of rabid bats. Can it be that those long-ago bats and the current wave of killings are the handiwork of the legendary demon vampire Desmondo? The ever-logical Holmes doubts this theory...or at least he doubts it at the beginning of the story. The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire debuted October 27, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The true story of an upset victory that helped change the sport of golf forever provides the basis for this period drama. Francis Ouimet (played by Shia LaBeouf) was born in 1893 to a working-class family in Massachusetts, and grew up fascinated by golf. However, at that time golf was considered a pastime of the wealthy and privileged, and British and Scottish players dominated the professional game. Ouimet's familial home was near the Brookline, MA, Country Club, and over the stern objections of his father, Francis got a job there as a caddy. Honing his skill in his spare time, Francis displayed a tremendous natural talent for the game and an understanding of its strategies, and 1913 he became the first amateur to play in the U.S. Open, held at the Brookline Country Club. Ouimet's presence was considered little more than a novelty at the time; Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane), a British champion with six tournament victories under his belt, was considered a shoo-in to win, with Ted Ray (Stephen Marcus) his only serious competition. However, Vardon, a fellow working-class boy who had overcome tuberculosis to become Britain's premier professional golfer, had more in common with Ouimet than anyone expected, and the tournament unexpectedly became a hard-fought competition between an established star and a promising unknown. Directed by Bill Paxton in his second directorial effort, The Greatest Game Ever Played also stars Elias Koteas as Francis' father, Josh Flitter as the ten-year-old boy who becomes Francis' caddy, and Peyton List as Sarah Wallis, Francis' sweetheart. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Toby McTeague (Yannick Bisson) is a teen-aged boy, living in a flyspeck town in Northern Canada with his father and younger brother. Toby's thriving livelihood, raising and training sled dogs, is threatened by a dip in the local economy. His problems are intensified by the ongoing hostilities between Toby and his dad (Winston Reckert). Running away from home, Toby makes the acquaintance of elderly Indian chief George Wild Dog (George Clutesi), who years earlier had been "shaman," or spiritual advisor, to Toby's father. It is Chief Wild Dog who mystically brings father and son together at the film's climax, in addition to rescuing Toby's sled-dog business in a near-miraculous fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jan Michael Vincent is the hero-by-default in Final Heist. As indicated by the title, Vincent is David King, a master thief on the verge of retirement. Feeling unfulfilled until he can pull off one last job, King discovers that his partners in crime have their own agendae. Gabrielle Lazure is the woman in the case. When first telecast on Canadian TV, Final Heist was titled L'Etrange rancon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide