It got up to 107 in Austin this afternoon, so what better time to stay indoors
in the air condition and watch a movie about a heatwave! Luckily for me, I still
had electricity and water unlike the unfortunate folks in this movie. Holly
McClane from DIE HARD is pregnant as fuck, hot as fuck and irritated as fuck:
the electricity is out, the tap water is brown and her husband is a whiny bitch.
Finally they say screw it and decide to go out to their cabin in the woods, but
that's easier said than done. All the electricity is out and gasoline is hard to
come by. Then, to make matters even worse, they get carjacked and are forced to
walk the last eight miles through the woods. Remember it's 120 degrees and she's
pregnant. Once they get to the cabin, they discover that the electricity is out
there as well and now the baby is ready to bust out of this hot motherfucker!
As far as early 70's made-for-TV movies go, this one is entertaining, but the
story was too small. Instead of going to the woods and just standing around a
cabin sweating I would have rather they remained in the big city and experience
everything going to Hell. Also there really needed to be a villain of some kind
or a bigger struggle than just trying to cool off.
If you can find a copy it's worth watching, but nothing to go out of your way
for. HEATWAVE! originally aired on January 26, 1974 as part of ABC's "Movie of
the Week" series.
