Mad Heidi is a crowd funded independently produced Swiss action comedy exploitation flick made to look like it could have been among the mock trailers for the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodrigues Grindhouse double feature releases in 2007. In fact this is a film where the heart feels like it was in the right place of both the filmmakers and the actors that include Casper Van Dien as the megalomaniacal President of Switzerland and Alice Lucy as the film’s namesake star Heidi. They really do a great job at hamming it up for the film’s over the top storyline while enjoying themselves too.
The problem is the film seems to run out of ideas and relies too much on over the top gore to substitute as action, but instead makes the film more gross than entertaining. Another problem is the story just kind of ends and the payoff does not deliver the euphoric high the film’s premise sets up.
In a totalitarian Switzerland where being lactose intolerant could get you killed, the President of Switzerland and his henchman have created a weaponized form of cheese that can placate the masses and even create cheese fueled zombies. With a monopoly on the cheese in Switzerland, Heidi’s boyfriend, an underground cheese dealer is executed and Heidi is put in a prison where she is forced to wrestle with other inmates for an important gladiatorial event the President is having to impress visiting French dignitaries. After escaping her jailers, Heidi heads for the Alps where she is trained in weapons combat by martial arts nuns. Then she returns to get revenge on everyone responsible for her misery.
It is in the last act that the premise’s setup does not live up to it’s climax. It could have used a larger set piece and less gross out cheese jokes and violence that simply don’t titillate. That is not to state Mad Heidi is bad film. Far from it, I actually like it a lot, but I just feel the film’s full potential is not truly reached. Still as long as your expectations are set realistically, I think Mad Heidi will please those who prefer something offbeat I have no doubt it will become a cult classic.
Mad Heidi will debut in select North American theaters across Canada and the United States on June 21, 2023.
(C) Copyright 2023 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
