High Anxiety

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

There are three clever sight gags in Mel Brooks' disingenuous love letter to Alfred Hitchcock High Anxiety , all of which poke fun at Hitchcock's invasive camera. Choosing the misbegotten Spellbound , oddly, as its jumping-off point, High Anxiety stars Brooks as acrophobic Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, the new Chief of Staff at The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. ... Full Review