Mad Heidi is a horror/comedy whose website bills it as the very first Swissploitation film (“Yes, this time Switzerland will be exploited!”). Based on the popular children’s book Heidi by Johanna Spyri, the movie is an action-adventure exploitation spoof made in much the same vein as Machete or Hobo with a Shotgun. It was directed by Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopstein and produced by Valentin Greytert.
The trailer, courtesy of Gambit, begins in peaceful Switzerland with its beautiful mountains, delicious cheese, and of course, Heidi (Alice Lucy), whose shown frolicking through the hills, warmly greeting her boyfriend, Goat Peter (Kel Matsena). However, things change following the rise of the President of Switzerland (Casper Van Dien), who’s shown toasting to world domination with the rest of his evil entourage.
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The President’s military police are led by Kommandant Knorr (Max Rüdlinger), whose name is a reference to the Herman-founded global food company. He and the rest of the armed forces are dressed like Nazis, only with the Swedish flag in place of the swastika. Besides killing several protestors, Knorr executes Goat Peter for the crime of producing illegal diary products while Heidi is sent to a women’s prison.
What’s Heidi supposed to do from there? Why transform herself from an innocent girl into “a kick-ass female fighting force who sets out to liberate the country from the insane cheese fascists.” What follows is a tale of action, beautiful Swiss girls, Swiss army katanas, and fondue boarding. The last of which is exactly what it sounds like. It also seems to be only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the film’s violent content.
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Bloody Disgusting released a clip from the film, starting with a bit you can see in the trailer. One of Knorr’s soldiers looks at Heidi’s wanted poster and says that “something’s yodeling in [his] pants.” Despite being informed that she took down an entire squad, the lecherous soldier tells the two others he’s with that he’d teach Heidi “some real good manners” if he were the one to find her.
Be careful what you wish for then goes into effect as Heidi makes her entrance. She castrates the soldier that was talking smack, slices another in half, and does something to the third that can only be described as accordion-ing. However, the clip ends with something of a cliffhanger as the Neutral-izer, a Minotaur-looking fascist, enters the scene. He seems to knock her out and, based on the trailer, takes her to an arena to fight in.
If you like what you see, you can watch Mad Heidi for $9.90 USD on the film’s official website. The recommended version to watch is the original, which is in English with subtitles. The film is also available in French, German, and Spanish. The film will also be released on Blu-ray in February 2023, which you can pre-order on the website.
