When the film begins, it's inexplicably hot in California. This heat wave isn't just hot...but unrelenting. In fact, it's so bad that through the course of the movie, Frank and Laura Taylor (Ben Murphy and Bonnie Bedelia) find that society is breaking down--folks are out of work, supplies start running thin and chaos is breaking out. In an effort to get away from the crazy city, they head to a family mountain retreat in the mountains...but things are so bad that they are soon attacked and their car stolen. Could it be any worse? Well, Laura is pregnant!! Will they survive or are they completely screwed?
"Heatwave" is a very competently made film and it has some interesting things to say about human nature...at its best as well as at its worst. However, the film does pull its punches a bit...especially at the very end of the picture. Worth seeing but not among the best of the series.