MAD HEIDI {MOVIE REVIEW}

ultimately, Mad Heidi is a crazy, daft, and fun way to spend 90 minutes, it’s the Kill Bill of cheesploitation.

Mad Heidi (2022)
Written by Sandro Klopfstein, Johannes Hartmann, Gregory D. Widmer
Directed by Johannes Hartman and Sandro Klopfstein (co-director)


Swiss mountain girl Heidi is abducted by brutal government troops and must defend herself and fight a war against a cheese-fuelled machinery of hate.

Mad Heidi is cheesy.

Literally.

I am not sure you will see a cheesier film this year.

If you are looking for a tongue in cheek exploitation horror about a crazy Swiss leader planning on world domination through cheese trade agreements, then Mad Heidi is about as Gouda as it gets.

Yeah, I know, but I don’t give Edam.


Okay, right, now I’ve got that out of my system, where was I?

Ah yes, Heidi.

For anyone who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s, Heidi will likely be fondly remembered from the kids TV show Heidi that followed the titular young girl’s adventures in the Swiss Alps where she lived with her Grandpa. The show also explored her friendships with Peter the goatherd and disabled local girl, Clara.

Well, she’s back, only this time, she isn’t quite so sweet and innocent. Klara (Almar G. Sato) is very much able to walk and, quite frankly, Heidi (Alice Lucy) and Goat Peter’s (Kel Matsena) relationship is VERY different from what you might remember.

And this sets you up for what is a very loose retelling of the story of Heidi set against the backdrop of a cruel dictatorship and unhealthy obsession with cheese. Actually it isn’t even very loose, I guess the only real connections are the names and the Alps! And maybe cheese.

Heidi and Peter are lovers, only Goat Peter has a dangerous side-hustle in illegal cheese-dealing. When he is caught by the authoritarian regime, Heidi is taken prisoner by the Nazi-like state police, and so begins a rip-roaring road to redemption and revenge as the people of Switzerland rise up against their cheese-obsessed ruler.

This is cheesploitation cinema, steeped in the tropes and traditions of the genre; violence, gore, funky music, cheesy dialogue and tits. It is not subtle and, dare I say it, is probably fairly offensive in a few places (the singling out and execution of those who are lactose intolerant is not a subtle metaphor) but it never tries to pretend it is anything other than trash cinema out for shits and giggles. However, its humour is pointed in the right direction, and it doesn’t take cheap shots at sensitive subjects. Any film that starts with a demonstration about cheese, where people hold up banners proclaiming the cheese monopoly to be ‘udder madness’, is aiming itself squarely at a certain audience and you will know if that is you very early on.

Having said that, the production here is pretty good. There are a few dodgy effects shots, but they largely add to the charm of the movie, which wears its crowd-funded origins with pride and, let’s face it, none of this really matters when severed necks are spouting gallons of blood. For an exploitation flick, there wasn’t, perhaps, as much gore as some will hope for but what you get is suitably icky. Although, if I am honest, towards the end of the film, for me, it was scenes of people eating cheese long after they really wanted to be eating cheese, that end up being some of the more stomach churning!

It is clear that the team, as well as having fun making this movie, put a lot of love into it to. The sets, props and costumes are all solid and the acting, on the whole is great and suitably OTT. I’ve seen criticisms of the acting in a few other reviews, but you want scenery-chewing and melodrama in a film like this. If everyone played it straight, it wouldn’t work. Casper van Dien plays the crazy Swiss premier to superb B-Movie effect and Alice Lucy as Heidi is having a ball. I look forward to seeing her return for the sequel, teased at the end of the movie. This would also hopefully see the sadly underused Klara in a more prominent role.
Add in unusual applications of Toblerone, cheese zombies, and death by accordion, and you know you are up for a hell of a ride. By the time you find out where the milk for all this cheese is coming from, you may well have had enough, but there is no doubting Mad Heidi does what it sets out to do; make a crazy exploitation-style horror-comedy that doesn’t take itself at all seriously.

There is, of course, an underlying seriousness to the message here. State control and the power a government can wield and abuse over its people is very current, this is just an unexpected way of getting that message across.
​
Whether or not this is something you will enjoy, you will have to whey up the pros and cons yourself but, ultimately, Mad Heidi is a crazy, daft, and fun way to spend 90 minutes, it’s the Kill Bill of cheesploitation. Films like this are never going to worry the Oscars, but that is never the point. If you take films like this too seriously, you will never enjoy them. But, If you get a kick out of films like Iron Sky, Dead Snow, Black Sheep and Overlord, to name just the first few that came to mind, then I don’t think you will be too disappointed by this trip to the Swiss Alps.

It is clear that the team, as well as having fun making this movie, put a lot of love into it to. The sets, props and costumes are all solid and the acting, on the whole is great and suitably OTT. I’ve seen criticisms of the acting in a few other reviews, but you want scenery-chewing and melodrama in a film like this. If everyone played it straight, it wouldn’t work. Casper van Dien plays the crazy Swiss premier to superb B-Movie effect and Alice Lucy as Heidi is having a ball. I look forward to seeing her return for the sequel, teased at the end of the movie. This would also hopefully see the sadly underused Klara in a more prominent role.
Add in unusual applications of Toblerone, cheese zombies, and death by accordion, and you know you are up for a hell of a ride. By the time you find out where the milk for all this cheese is coming from, you may well have had enough, but there is no doubting Mad Heidi does what it sets out to do; make a crazy exploitation-style horror-comedy that doesn’t take itself at all seriously.

There is, of course, an underlying seriousness to the message here. State control and the power a government can wield and abuse over its people is very current, this is just an unexpected way of getting that message across.
​
Whether or not this is something you will enjoy, you will have to whey up the pros and cons yourself but, ultimately, Mad Heidi is a crazy, daft, and fun way to spend 90 minutes, it’s the Kill Bill of cheesploitation. Films like this are never going to worry the Oscars, but that is never the point. If you take films like this too seriously, you will never enjoy them. But, If you get a kick out of films like Iron Sky, Dead Snow, Black Sheep and Overlord, to name just the first few that came to mind, then I don’t think you will be too disappointed by this trip to the Swiss Alps.
​

check out today's book review below 

the heart and soul of horror review websites