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High Anxiety

Play trailer Poster for High Anxiety PG,  1977,  1h 34m,  Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 73% 33 Reviews Tomatometer 67% 10,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
73% Tomatometer 33 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Just after becoming the director of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke is greeted by a series of mysterious events. When his colleagues -- including the militaristic and mustachioed Nurse Diesel -- become leery of his questions, they accuse him of murder. Thorndyke's own mental health comes into question as he struggles to clear his name in the midst of a crippling bout of a condition known as high anxiety.
High Anxiety

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Uneven but hilarious when it hits, this spoof of Hitchcock movies is a minor classic in the Mel Brooks canon.

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Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Oct 23, 2004
2.5/4
One of the problems with Mel Brooks's High Anxiety is that it picks a tricky target: It's a spoof of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but Hitchcock's films are often funny themselves. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Aug 29, 2026
3/5
…Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety has an amazing pseudo-Hitchcock look about it, with a production design that’s very in tune with the auteur’s style, and well-chosen locations and musical stings. There are also some priceless gags… Go to Full Review
Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap Apr 13, 2026
2.5/5
Mid-career Mel Brooks hit the skids with this supposed send-up of Alfred Hitchcock movies that's really more concerned with (ineptly) poking fun at pop culture psychology of the day. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Jan 25, 2024
This is the film that is parasitic for excellence, because it feeds on almost every scene of something that Hitchcock previously previewed. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Aug 9, 2023
6/10
The film isn’t continuously funny, nor is it consistently suspenseful, but it does do a spectacular job of sending up Hitchcock’s classics. Go to Full Review
Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene Sep 10, 2021
Mel Brooks, during his peak years, never met a genre he couldn't wrestle to the ground. And High Anxiety, his 1977 tribute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock, is a masterpiece of characterization, design and execution. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Feb 1, 2019 The best comedy movie ever made!
Han M Jan 19, 2019 If you are a reviewer and you think someone with a High IQ would not enjoy this film, then you must have cheated on the IQ test and definitely are not even close to genius. Although the film is not Mel Brooks's best film, the use of Hitchcock's material to spoof is pulled off brilliantly by a strong cast of acting talents such as Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman and Dick Van Patten. High Anxiety is a very visual film more than anything, using a hotel balcony, the effects of a car radio and the hijinx between Leachman and Korman. See more
Abraham W Nov 22, 2018 Not one of his better pix, its ok, you may laugh a few times here and there.
Harry R Apr 28, 2018 the movie is not very funny, but i just think mel brooks is such a charming guy. its a nice movie that anyone could watch
Luke W Mar 11, 2018 If you have a low IQ, you would laugh your head off. High IQ folks consider it very stupid.
George S May 13, 2017 By far Mel Brooks' worst film. His tribute to Hitchcock that is just a jumbled mess that is made worse by not aging well.
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High Anxiety

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Cast & Crew

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Mel Brooks

Director

Mel Brooks

Richard H. Thorndyke

Madeline Kahn

Victoria Brisbane

Cloris Leachman

Nurse Diesel

Harvey Korman

Dr. Charles Montague

Ron Carey

Brophy

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High Anxiety

High Anxiety (1977) High Anxiety (1977) High Anxiety (1977) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Just after becoming the director of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke is greeted by a series of mysterious events. When his colleagues -- including the militaristic and mustachioed Nurse Diesel -- become leery of his questions, they accuse him of murder. Thorndyke's own mental health comes into question as he struggles to clear his name in the midst of a crippling bout of a condition known as high anxiety.
Director
Mel Brooks
Producer
Mel Brooks
Screenwriter
Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, Barry Levinson
Distributor
21st Century Film Corporation [us]
Production Co
Crossbow Productions, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 1977, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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