HEIDI is a cheap found footage horror movie that feels very much like a copy of the Hollywood creepy doll flick, ANNABELLE. As a low budget film it's surprisingly well presented and edited in a professional manner too; the performances are naturalistic and the two guys who are the film's protagonists are quite likable.

The biggest problem this film has is that the central doll, Heidi, is not in any way, shape, or form, menacing. It's just an ordinary kid's doll that turns up in random places and attempts to make it scary had me laughing more than screaming. Don't get me started on that lame CGI twist ending either. No, HEIDI is a film that has plenty of potential, but a creepier or even unseen menace would have made it a better and more convincing movie.

Ryan (Samuel Brian) and Jack (Joey Bell) are best friends who are also pranksters and run a web site called, "Boo Ya" something that was better depicted in the deleted scenes. As sis moves out Ryan inherits her job watching Dottie Porter's bird and home while she is away. Ryan and Jack explore Dottie's storage attic and find an old doll without eyes (ignore DVD cover with red eye) with the name tag of Heidi. Heidi seems to be able to move by herself or is it one of the pranksters? I believe Heidi's last name was Houdini.

This is a "found footage" film except all the footage was destroyed so it was never found. Also pictures of the doll can not be up load to any web site, which is why they had to delete one scene...they wanted it both ways. Special effects included shooting a still picture of a doll and then shooting it in another position claiming it moved. Not high tech but marginally effective.

Winner of 5 awards at PollyGrind Underground Film Festival of Las Vegas including best horror and acting award for Joei Fulco. Joei sings and plays the guitar in the deleted scenes. She started out playing herself in the TV series "Wife Swap" and is up and coming in the "B" world of films, Nevada's answer to Utah's Danielle Chuchran.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

I had the privilege of seeing Heidi at the 2014 Pollygrind fest. I knew nothing but the title of the film, and that it was a packed house. That was it. Unlike allot of the internet, I enjoy a good "found footage" film, the genre has an immediacy and and honesty in it's scares that just works for me. From the first act of the film I could tell that this wasn't just another kids go missing in the woods affair. The film had an instant charm that really doesn't let up. Speaking of not letting up, the increasing sense of danger this tiny doll imposes as the film rolls. This film was made BEFORE Annabelle BTW, and honestly shares pretty much nothing other than a haunted doll at their core. Either way, the film runs us through a series of very well done set pieces meant to do one thing, be scary and build the danger that lead to a climax that unlike allot of FF films, doesn't just peter out. These sequences really show the film makers clever side, utilizing the approach in such different and unique ways, it's hard not to get sucked into the fun of the whole affair. I truly hope Heidi gets a nice fat distribution deal because say what you will about found footage, this movie rocks what its got and then some, and seeing some of the dribble that hits big screens representing the genre, it would nice to see something so well crafted and with so much heart behind it up there of the marquee.