Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Heidi’

Written by Scott Edwards

House and pet sitting is something that I loved doing in my younger years. Only being responsible for the place for a few days at most, it was just fun to sit back on someone else’s couch and watch TV or read a book while their dog would be outside doing its business. But this job comes with a ton of intrigue, as you are tempted to find out who these people really are. While never going through areas of the house I was not supposed to, I will admit that I was overly tempted to check it out, because the more you know about someone, the better you know them.
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Best friends Ryan and Jack are living on the top of the world, mainly because they have a cool internet channel named ‘Boo Ya’ where they get to prank members of their family. But this is something that Ryan’s mom is not happy about since her son is always filming everything around the house looking for something funny to post. Yet Ryan does not care and since his mother is hardly ever around the house anymore, he can get away with doing whatever he wants. Things are about to change however after Ryan gets a house-sitting job that will open a doorway to a place he never wanted to go.

Agreeing to house and bird sit for Dottie Porter, Ryan has also been made into a house slave and needs to clean everything in the house to get his paycheck. While watching and recording his friend working, Jack spots the home’s attic and wants to take a couple minutes to check it out. Climbing up into the dark attic, the boys find all sorts of treasures hidden away from the world and even find out that the house was owned by someone that made their living on EBay. But there is something else in the attic, a creepy doll sitting in the corner that goes by the name Heidi and she wants to play. Kicking the doll from her chair before leaving, Jack has no idea what he has done in disrespecting the doll and what she is capable of. 

Reviewing the footage from the attic, Ryan spots something strange, as the doll seems to have moved on its own. Trying to convince Jack that there is something creepy about it, the prankster pays it little mind. But when making fun of his little brother, a ball comes bouncing down the stairs leading up to his room and he finds Heidi sitting on his bed. Believing that he is being pranked by Ryan, Jack returns the doll to his friend who had nothing to do with it. Tossing the doll in his closet for the time being, Ryan listens to the news and hears that Dottie has been killed in her house, along with the bird. Ryan believes that there is something creepy about the doll that he is keeping in the house, but he has no idea what Heidi is really capable of until the bodies start to pile up.

This horror film features your everyday creepy doll that craves attention and blood. I liked the creepiness of Heidi’s eyes, it seems like she is always staring at you throughout the movie and since I don’t like dolls at all, it freaked me out. The story was overall very fun, as the friends and family all get a bit of the action. But where the movie really started to come together is when Heidi started writing notes to the boys and made sure they were aware that she wanted to play. I wondered throughout the movie that if someone would actually roll her ball back to her, would they be safe from Heidi’s wrath? I guess we will never know, unless of course we get a possessed doll sequel and that would not be a bad idea at all. With plenty of found footage, an escape artist doll, a cousin that is afraid of creepy dolls, a murder mystery, a love story and a missing dog that will just make you bawl your eyes out, this is a very entertaining movie that will make you think twice about having one of these dolls sitting anywhere near you when you sleep. Stay Scared.

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