With Trent Haaga on the writing team it should come as no surprise that Mad Heidi is a little out-there. Over the years Haaga has written Deadgirl, Cheap Thrills, It Came from the Desert, 68 Kill, and most recently H4Z4RD. Of all of these titles, Mad Heidi is perhaps the strangest. The project began life as a kickstarter campaign and is currently travelling the genre festival circuit having just played to the FrightFest Halloween crowd. Directed by the pairing of Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein, Mad Heidi is billed as a ‘Swissploitation’ story. It joins mountain girl Heidi (Alice Lucy) as she is abducted by brutal government troops . Heidi must defend herself as she fights a war against a cheese-obsessed dictator, President Meili (Casper Van Dien).
Mad Heidi is overflowing with energy. It has the attention span of a toddler and its constant switching between characters and locations is a lot to keep up with. The time spent clinging on is worth it though as Mad Heidi is a cartoonish fever dream brought to life. Following a similar formula to that of the Machete series, Mad Heidi takes great delight in poking fun at itself. A parody allegory for war time occupation, Mad Heidi is littered with cheese orientated propaganda. There are several great advertisement sequences that riff off of WWII posters that encouraged citizens to report on and out their neighbours. This is a fun and silly story and so it is the lactose intolerant that are viewed as people that need wiping out. Why? Because they go against the cheese obsession of the country’s President, and CEO of a cheese company, Meili.
Playing Mad Heidi is newcomer Alice Lucy. Heidi is a complicated character to play as she goes from gentle mountain mouse to ferocious warrior. Lucy has to ensure that even in her meeker moments, Heidi has a strength bubbling under the surface. It’s this energy that sees her selected for the President rather than sentenced to death. Additionally Lucy has to traverse everything with a heightened sense of camp fun. Heidi is a warrior queen ready to topple the patriarchy of cheese, but she has to play for laughs. Lucy’s hardest job, and one shared by the bulk of the cast, is being able to deliver puns so cheesy they should be served on toast. Her hard work pays off and Heidi makes the perfect heroine for this war against dairy.
Opposite Lucy as the big fromage is Casper Van Dien. The actor was last seen at FrightFest in August giving a reserved performance in Corey Deshon’s Daughter. Now he’s back with Mad Heidi, a film for which the word subtle does not apply. As Meili, Van Dien is delightfully over the top. Just his Tommy Wiseau lilted accent is enough to get laughs, but the actor pushes hard demonstrating a comedic talent that hasn’t been fully explored in his career thus far. With Van Dien, directors Hartmann and Klopfstein get to have some extra fun. Whilst parodying posters rife during wartime, the propaganda videos also make nods to Dien’s Starship Troopers. Hearing Van Dien utter lines such as “I’m doing my part” is a loving touch for the Johnny Rico fans in the audience.
Matching the over-the-top acting and ridiculous dialogue are some zany practical effects. As Heidi battles her way through the army of cheese loyalists, there is plenty of opportunity for carnage. The bloodshed isn’t shied away from, instead the film cranks the goremeter up to eleven, throwing all manner of blood and viscera on the screen. Much like the idolised cheese, Mad Heidi is a gooey, oozy canopy of gore. The exaggerated approach to bloodshed solidifies the comedic nature of the film and the laughs flow as freely as the red stuff.
For a film that was funded through a kickstarter campaign, no expense has been spared. Every last penny has been pumped into making Mad Heidi as cartoonishly entertaining as possible. A perfect film for a crowd, Mad Heidi feeds off of the energy of those watching, bouncing it back at them. Mad Heidi is a ton of fun and is sure to delight genre fans with a silly sense of humour.
Mad Heidi
Summary
As the title suggests, Mad Heidi is a pure movie insanity. From its opening moments to its bonkers final showdown, this is a film made for genre audiences. Watching in a crowd is the key to Mad Heidi’s success as this is one wild ride that you don’t want to experience alone.
Mad Heidi was reviewed at FrightFest Halloween 2022. Mad Heidi arrives on digital platforms 20th March 2023.
