Heidi

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.

'Heidi' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing and quite creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive. Same with it being found footage.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Heidi' is very weak, with a plethora of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a couple of decent, even good, qualities in 'Heidi'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, despite being wasted by the nauseating effects of the excessively shaking camera work and editing.

Best thing about 'Heidi' is the doll, which is quite creepy. Liked the opening, which was attention grabbing and kept me hooked. Which is why it is such a shame that 'Heidi' went downhill so drastically.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their irritating and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the histrionic and stiff acting.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace goes to a standstill after the promising opening and drags on forever, never recovering. The second half is interminable. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'Heidi' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical, irritating and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending finishes the film on an incomplete and confused whimper. The whole of 'Heidi' felt unfinished but especially so at the end where it just ends with too much left hanging in the air.

The more psychological elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show the horror of the subject. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is pretty leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, very weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I am not a fan of found footage but I do enjoy the killer doll trope. This film has most of the usual found footage clichés, the biggest offender of course being that this didn't need to be a found footage film. Your main characters are Jack and Ryan, two internet pranksters who switch from being the most monotone narrators to terribly obnoxious and unlikable. The films pacing is fairly slow, and while events are occurring through out the film they are often lacking any real content. The main character seems to switch between believing the doll is evil and defending the supernatural events as coincidence. The movie is relatively low on gore and has little to no jump scares, both of which I consider plus 1's , though different people have different tastes so I will let you decide if that makes you want to see the film more or less. Quick Summary: Outside of detective Harris, the acting was all around poor, it lacked any real scary moments, the story feels empty, the sound work can switch from quiet talking to loud static sound effects blasting your speaker, and the camera-work is... well it's found footage.

I do cheesy movies, and there are more than a few out there under the found footage/horror genre (my unabashed yet hidden pleasure), but I just couldn't finish this. We've all laughed about bad acting, but I have never seen acting as bad as the one for Ryan's character. Never, never, never. It's not as though he was cheesy nor was he hamming it up, if only he were it would be an improvement. It's as though he was doing a read through of the script while he was texting someone. Only paying partial attention to what he was uninterestingly saying. On a positive note, it made the other actors mediocre performances positively shine. I was thinking "Heh, they're not half bad" (tho they really were) because he REALLY was that bad. He made Eyore look like a tantrum throwing, melodramatic diva. Anywho, the story had some poor writing, but also some potential, at least to the halfway point. Then I just couldn't take another second of Ryan.

I don't usually write reviews but giving in on this one. I LOVE horror movies and while this isn't grade A, big budget, fare, it was completely entertaining.

The lead actor, young and definitely not a pro - was great to watch, fit the role and I think, really helped this movie along as he was so likeable.

Again, definitely not big budget, but they made fine work with what they had and didn't have to rely on useless gore or cheesy affects. The doll 'Heidi' was sufficient to give the necessary chills.

This wasn't a total slow burn, but also didn't rely on jump scares - it was just genuinely creepy and a fun watch.