High Anxiety

Dr Richard H. Thorndyke is a psychiatry professor appointed to run a prestigious mental hospital in California after his predecessor dies in shady circumstances. Once there he starts to suspect foul play and is contacted by the daughter of a... Full review

The in-your-face humor may not work for some but it sure works here. The opening of the movie is funny and it doesn't stop until the ending. Chloris Leachman as Nurse Diesel simply cannot get any better. The movie has a... Full review

HIGH ANXIETY suffers only by comparison to Mel's YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, but it stands by itself as a frisky, very funny screwball spoof of the works of Alfred Hitchcock.I do agree with others who complain that Mel should have given the... Full review

I'm sure that others will say that I just don't understand Mel Brooks' form of humor. My reply? Why would I want to understand it? The was by far the worst movie I have ever seen.... Full review

funniest movie ever. mel brooks is a genius. one should probably see a good amount of alfred hitchcock movies before seeing this one to get the full effect. for example, the genius of making mel brooks' characters name thorndyke instead of... Full review

Mel Brooks' homage to Hitchcock is full of hilarious spoofs of Hitchcock's great film moments and overall techniques. Actors Mel Brooks, Madeleine Kahn, Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman give excellent performances. Brooks' neurotic sensibilities are perfect in re-interpreting Hitchcock as a... Full review

Mel Brooks is a very funny man, and though sometimes I think his comedy is a little on the low side, "High Anxiety" has some truly hilarious moments. Mel riffs on Hitchcock, right down to Madeline Kahn's gray suit a... Full review

Mel Brooks, if nothing else, is spectacular at collecting up the clichés, the stereotypes, the conventions, the seriousness, and at the same time the joy and entertainment that comes in the different works he has made fun of over his... Full review

Mel Brooks in 1977 was not yet as widely popular as he would be in the early 80's. High Anxiety foreshadows such comic movies as Airplane! from 1980 and Leslie Nielson parody films, like the Naked Gun films of the 90's.... Full review

Mel Brooks arrives at the "Institute" to find suspicious goings on, and tries to find out what's going on and who is behind it. Cloris Leachman and Harvy Korman are fellow doctors at the asylum, and watch over the institute... Full review

High Anxiety is Mel Brooks comic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock.....It lampoons many of Hitchcock's standard plot devices and directorial techniques, but not in a mean-spirited way..... ... Full Review

best picture....the film was not well-received by critics....best actor.... ... Full Review

For years, I gave him a hard time about his adoration of High Anxiety , as I thought the film was lackluster at best. In his lesser films, Brooks would zoom in to accentuate this joke, but here he maintains restraint The movie works better due to that factor, as the almost throwaway nature of many gags makes them more effective. ... Full Review

And satire works best when its target is self-important. The best moments in " High Anxiety " come not when Brooks is being assaulted in the shower with a rolled-up newspaper, but when Brooks leaves Hitchcock altogether and does his own crazy, brilliant stuff. ... Full Review

Alas, much of the comic edge is gone by this point, making High Anxiety a very uneven comedy at best. To properly enjoy High Anxiety you'll probably need at least a passing familiarity with some of Hitchcock's more popular works, but you don't need to be overly familiar, as Brooks only lightly touches the most famous of scenes. ... Full Review

In the Oscar ninny kingdom, word that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was going to broaden the best picture category - reported here by Michael Cieply - was seen as a blockbuster, sort of "Armageddon" meets "Titanic." ... Full Article

CENTRAL CINEMA: 1411 21st Ave.Tickets: $5 unless indicated. 206-686-6684; central-cinema.com.Any film running past 11 p.m. is 21+."High Anxiety."Mel Brooks' spoof of Hitchcock's "Vertigo," starring Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman. ... Full Article

CHICAGO - If there ever was an institution that has distressed itself through years of patriarchal rule, it is the Catholic Church. From examples of historical misdeeds through the recent priest scandals, the Catholic Church has done a dance around... ... Full Article

I t's not always easy to tell when Mel Brooks is joking. Well, sometimes it's obvious, as when he's asked how the Broadway adaptation of his 1974 cult hit Young Frankenstein , currently in tryouts in Seattle, is coming together. ... Full Article

One of the reasons we film critics have a soft spot for Mel Brookss High Anxiety is that its endless parade of campy Hitchcock gags makes us feel smart. ... Full Article