MAD HEIDI: A Review Of The Modern Grindhouse Epic

Cinema Scholars presents a review of the modern grindhouse epic, Mad Heidi. The film stars Casper Van Dien and Alice Lucy. Fathom Events released Mad Heidi in theaters nationwide on June 21, 2023.

Introduction

Fans of exploitation or grindhouse cinema have come to expect a certain vibe from the wild genre of film. Whether it’s blacksploitation greats like Foxy Brown (1974) or Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971). Or women-in-prison movies like The Big Birdcage (1972) and The Concrete Jungle (1982). Or even Italian splatter flicks like Zombie (1979) or Cannibal Ferox (1981), films under the exploitation umbrella have been pushing boundaries outside of the mainstream for decades.

In a blood-soaked love letter to the often-outrageous genre, the new “Swissploitation” film Mad Heidi combines tropes from numerous grindhouse sub-categories. The result is a delightfully absurd and adult update to the classic children’s book character. 

Synopsis

In Mad Heidi, the titular character has grown into a young woman. She lives a quiet life in the Swiss Alps with her beloved grandfather. While Heidi carries on in her idyllic world, a cheese magnate named Hermann Meili becomes the new militant president of the peaceful country.

Soon, Meili outlaws all cheese but his own. He also arrests all citizens who are lactose-intolerant Gestapo-style. When Heidi’s boyfriend “Goat Peter” gets caught up in the illegal cheese trade and falls victim to Meili’s ruthless enforcers, Heidi sets off on an epic journey to avenge her lover. 

Analysis

Co-directed by Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein and financed via crowdfunding, Mad Heidi is an over-the-top action/revenge flick with laughs and gore galore. A weird mash-up of traditional Alpine themes and a modern aesthetic gives the movie a strange timelessness that frames a myriad of ridiculous situations and homages to all things exploitation. 

Meili’s overtly Nazi-esque police force falls in line with Nazisploitation cult classics like Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975) or Last Orgy Of The Third Reich (1977). And a couple of songs by Dolemite (1975) himself, Rudy Ray Moore, plus some “pimped out” fashion worn by Goat Peter is fun and careful nods to the mighty blacksploitation subgenre. 

A good portion of the film is devoted to Heidi’s women-in-prison arc where she becomes a hardened badass. And surprisingly, Mad Heidi doesn’t completely skirt around sexploitation, with a decent helping of random nudity and innuendo. Shrewd fans will even recognize a reference to Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). No doubt the movie is packed with much more exploitation Easter Eggs tucked in along the cross-genre mayhem. 

Performances

Casper Van Dien is hilarious as the power-hungry supreme leader Hermann Meili. the actor’s devilish good looks paired with amusing blue-blood buffoonery make for a cartoonish villain that you love to hate.

And as Heidi, relative newcomer Alice Lucy holds her own with a surprisingly steady temperament despite the madness. In a role that sees her doing everything from getting dunked in a prison toilet to training with Ninja Nuns, Lucy’s earnest portrayal tethers all that crazy and keeps her character from going full caricature.

Further Discussion

With all the hybridization, Mad Heidi seems somewhat disjointed by design. By the time the martial arts training montage and spaghetti Western themes kick in, any semblance of order in this smorgasbord of subgenres is thrown out the window. And these examples merely scratch the surface. The film can’t quite decide which lane to stay in. Yet the chaos lends itself to the overall nuts narrative, and somehow it works. And it may be true that the laughs are more groan-worthy than knee-slapping. But the consistent comic relief is what helps keep the film from taking itself too seriously.

Along with the homage-packed narrative, the film also features a mix of aesthetics that sometimes feel cobbled together. Digitally enhanced hyper-real locations appear alongside sweeping sequences featuring the real-life magnificence of the Alps. And aside from nods in the opening and closing credit sequences, Hartmann and Klopfstein avoid the trend of filtering footage to make it look like old, scratched-up 16mm. A somewhat surprising choice considering how steeped the film is in grindhouse goodness. The most seamless combination of values in Mad Heidi goes to the spectacular mix of CGI and impressive practical effects in the multiple gags of the film.

Conclusion

Mad Heidi is an intentionally ridiculous romp with some legitimately inspired moments. But mostly, the film is a love letter to the various exploitation films that inspired the Gonzo adaptation. While fans of grindhouse cinema will surely grin at the endless references to favorite cult classics, unwitting fans will still be wowed by the silly spectacle of Mad Heidi.

Fathom Events will release Mad Heidi in theaters nationwide on June 21, 2023.

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