Roxana Zal

When a blackmailer shares his secrets with three extremely untrustworthy women, his million-dollar scheme spins murderously out of control. Attractive, hard-working Lewis 'Lew' Brookbank's love - and professional life came crumbling down after he found his adulterous wife Janice and her lover Dick murdered on a yacht. He moved to a derelict gas station in Carpenteria, where he paints commercial signs. Lew accidentally overhears a couple making love in their car and planning the kidnapping and murder of the man's wife. Lew manages to track them down: jewelry manager Ralph Hagen and antiques shop clerk Isobel Delano. Lew confides in present lover Rita Caswell, needing help with the sinister Herbert Claremont while he plans to blackmail the kidnappers. More complications follow. —KGF Vissers

Police officer Jack Fletcher is injured in a gun battle resulting in the loss of his sight.

The movie opens with a boy, Tim (Joshua Miller) playing on a bridge. He hears a yell, and sees Samson/John (Daniel Roebuck) sitting on the shore. The boy pedals off, and Samson smokes a cigarette by the naked corpse of Jamie (Danyi Deats). Samson leaves in a daze, and Tim spots him at a convenience store. While Samson haggles with the clerk, he steals two beers and leaves them for Samson. Tim asks Samson for dope, and gets in Samson's car. They drive to Feck's place for drugs, but he's not home. As Tim returns home, his brother Matt (Keanu Reeves) is arguing with his mother (Constance Forslund). His little sister Kim (Tammy Smith) wants Matt's help for a funeral for her lost doll, and we learn that the family is dysfunctional. Layne (Crispin Glover) arrives to pick up Matt, and Tim asks to come along. Layne refuses, and Tim bicycles off, despite his mother's complaint. Layne and Matt arrive at Feck's house, where Feck (Dennis Hopper) is playing saxophone for an inflatable doll. Layne gets drugs from Feck, and Feck talks about the girl he had to kill. At school, Layne and Matt smoke pot with Clarissa (Ione Skye) Maggie (Roxana Zal) and Tony (Josh Richman). Samson/John arrives and takes them to see Jamie's body. Matt is nervous and leaves, and Layne starts planning how to get alibis. Mr. Burkewaite teaches his class about radicals, and Clarissa flirts with him. The murder story starts to spread, and Layne tries to borrow Mike's (Phillip Brock) truck. Mike refuses, but is willing to drive. They see the body, and Layne tells them to help bury her. No one is willing to help, including John. Clarissa is uncomfortable with the secret, but Layne threatens her. She's too scared to call the police, and later calls Matt, but Matt is too shy to talk. That nigth, Layne rolls Jamie's body into the river. John buys him beer, but doesn't seem to care that Layne is trying to protect him. At John's house, they see police cars. Layne panics, but John is calm. They go to Feck for help, and Layne leaves John with him. Feck recognizes a kindred spirit, and they begin to talk. Matt brings detective Bennett (Tom Bower) to the place where the body was, and the cops fish her out of the river. Bennett grills Matt about the murder. Matt's mother picks him up from the police station, and he gets in a fight with her boyfriend Jim (Leo Ross). Tim appears, and Matt chases him. Tim threatens Matt with telling Layne about Clarissa's phone call, and Matt hits him. Tim runs off, and meets up with his friend Moko (Yuzo Nishihara). They borrow his father's car and head to Feck's. Layne, Clarissa and Matt go to Mike's house to extract his confession, but Mike's father drives them off with a shotgun. Layne gets annoyed and kicks Clarissa out of his car. Matt gets out and walks her home. She kisses Matt and they decide to go to the park. On the way, they stop at the convenience store and bump into John and Feck, buying beer. Layne arrives at Feck's, and Tim/Moko hide. After Layne leaves, Tim and Moko enter and search for Feck's gun, but find weed instead. They get wasted at Feck's. Meanwhile, John and Feck break into a store and steal ammo. Matt confesses to Clarissa that he told the cops about Jamie. They begin to make out. John and Feck wind up at the river's edge, and John starts messing with Feck's doll. Feck realizes John is crazy, and tries to calm him down. John starts firing Feck's gun, and brags about his murder. Matt hears the gunshots, but doesn't stop making love to Clarissa. They fall asleep in the park. Layne is cruising around, looking for John and popping pills. Feck muses about getting old, then fires a shot. When he comes home, Tim and Moko attack him and take his gun. In the morning, the police find Layne, passed out in his car, and take him to the station for questioning. Matt returns home, and his mother screams that she's leaving her kids. Reporters interview kids at the school, and Bennett questions Layne. In class, Burkewaite rails about morality, and that no one cares about Jamie. Clarissa is distraught. Tim watches Matt and Clarissa, holding Feck's gun. Layne calls Feck, and the police break in on Feck, so Layne hangs up. The kids go to the river's edge to skip school, and Matt sees Feck's doll in the river. Layne arrives and tries to attack Mike again. Matt intervenes and tells Layne that he turned John in. Layne runs off, then finds John, dead. Tim shows up and tries to shoot Matt for hitting him, but Matt talks him out of it. The police arrive and cart everyone off. At the end, Feck is in the hospital, confessing to his original murder and for killing John. The movie ends with Jamie's funeral, and the kids finally show emotion.

It is a typical morning in the Wetherly house. Carol is trying to get her three children (Brad, Mary Liz, and Scottie) up and ready for school. Her husband Tom and older son Brad go on a quick bike ride. Tom is rather critical of Brad, especially when his son is unable to reach the top of a steep hill. On the way home they greet an elderly neighbor, Henry Abhart, and Mike, the owner of a gas station. Mike has a special needs son, Hiroshi, who sometimes goes fishing with the Wetherlys. Carol is helping to direct a play at the elementary school. Since their California town is named Hamlin, the children are putting on "The Pied Piper of Hamelin." Mary Liz provides a piano accompaniment and Scottie plays a little crippled boy. That night, Carol is unable to sleep. She wakes Tom, worried about what to get Brad for his thirteenth birthday. Tom sleepily reminds her that it isn't for another two months. They discuss how fast Brad is growing up and Carol decides to start keeping a diary. The next afternoon, the children are watching TV in the living room. Carol is listening to the answering machine messages. There is one from her mother in Chicago. Tom is in San Francisco on a business trip. He leaves two messages; one that he will be home for dinner and another one stating that he won't be able to make it after all. The TV picture is fuzzy and Brad fusses with the antenna. The telephone rings and Carol answers but the call is apparently lost. Suddenly the program is interrupted by a special report. Bombs are falling up and down the east coast and in other locations, including nearby San Francisco. Citizens are urged to stay off the telephones as the lines must be kept open for official use. Stay tuned for a message from the White House. Just then the TV goes off completely and loud sirens are heard. A bright light is seen outside. Carol screams for the children to get on the floor and cover their eyes. After the sirens and light are gone, people begin venturing outside their homes. A child is heard crying. Everyone is asking what happened. Later most of the neighbors gather at the Abhart home. Carol leaves a note for Tom in case he comes home. Henry is a ham radio operator and has been in contact with other cities that were hit. He can't raise anyone in San Francisco at all. Carol asks if he's been able to contact Chicago but the answer is no. Attempting to be as positive as possible, Henry assures his neighbors that they are down but not out. If anyone needs food or water, the Abharts will share what they have. Henry will keep on trying to reach other cities. At the gas station, Mike is only serving his regular customers. All others, especially those who never had time for him and Hiroshi, are ordered away at gunpoint. Carol wants to pay for her gas but Mike tells her it has already been paid for many times over. Tom never turns up. Carol takes in Larry, a neighbor's child whose parents are missing. At a community meeting, the mayor, police chief, and Rev. Hollis are optimistic that help will arrive. There has been looting at the supermarket and pharmacy, but those places are now under guard. There are questions about exposure to radiation. Cathy Pitkin, a young mother and friend of the Wetherlys, is worried about the health of her baby. The doctor says that he doesn't have the equipment to measure how much radiation they've all been exposed to. Food is rationed and batteries are collected to be given out as needed. Brad catches an older boy stealing batteries and confronts him. Gradually people begin to fall ill. Each day Henry Abhart is able to reach fewer cities. But life keeps going. The children give their play. Mary Liz continues her piano lessons with Henry's wife. Then the Pitkins' baby dies. They decide to leave and find a safer place, assuring Carol that they will come back one day. The doctor also leaves. There are rumors of survivors' camps in northern Canada, but the Wetherlys decide to remain in Hamlin. Scottie falls ill and dies. Carol tears the house apart looking for his teddy bear but she can't find it. Rev. Hollis is unable to wait any longer and begins the service. Mary Liz asks her mother what sex is like, realizing that she herself will never know. Brad continues his daily visits to Henry, whose wife is now ill. He asks Brad to take over her job of checking on the neighbors. Carol has been writing in her diary but can no longer remember the date. Larry dies and then Mary Liz. The boy who was stealing batteries breaks into the Wetherly home. Brad runs him off but the boy steals his bike. Reluctantly he begins using his father's bicycle, recalling the last morning they rode together. A second community meeting is sparsely attended. Many have died. The police chief, visibly exhausted and ill, says that his men are on duty and will remain for as long as possible. Garbage pickup is suspended as they don't have the manpower. There is no longer any hope that help will arrive. Rev. Hollis urges people to bury the dead carefully as the cemetery is now full. Hiroshi's father has died and Brad brings the boy home. Carol is now showing symptoms of radiation poisoning but manages to keep going. While she is watching a bonfire at the cemetery, Brad brings word of Henry Abhart's death. After he leaves, Carol begins screaming and pulling up chunks of grass. Rev. Hollis finds her and they kiss, not from love but the sheer need of human contact. Carol and Brad decide to end their lives, taking Hiroshi with them. They close the garage door and climb into the car. Carol starts the engine, then cuts it off. She can't bring herself to go through with it. Brad also has changed his mind. It is his birthday. As a treat, Carol spreads graham crackers with jam and lights candles. Hiroshi suddenly brings her Scottie's teddy bear. She is overjoyed and asks where he found it but he can't tell her. Although they will all soon die, the mood is one of peace.