High Anxiety

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High Anxiety

PG

1977

1h 34m

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

72%

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32 Reviews

67%

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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.

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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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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

10/23/2004

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.

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Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Apr 13

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.

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

01/25/2024

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]

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

08/09/2023

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.

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Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

09/10/2021

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.

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Fernando Trueba

El Pais (Spain)

08/01/2019

More than an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, High Anxiety is a copycat. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Peter S

@Budfudlacker May 9

I get it that some people don't get some of the jokes in this movie or they don't find silly visual jokes appealing, but I love Mel Brooks and think he's hilarious and this movie for me is one of his funniest. Young Frankenstein is probably his best followed by Blazing Saddles, but this one is very clever spoofing some of Alfred Hitchcocks greatest movies. You might need to be a Hitchcock fan to recognise some of the gags but if you do like me then you will really enjoy this movie. The Psycho shower seen is one of my favorites

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lolblog T

@RT47829063 Apr 13

unbeareable movie, the "jokes" are literally the most idiotic i ever seen 0 out of 10

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Keith B B

@Okbullard Jan 27

The 1st time I watched this was probably late 70s so 40 years later I gave it another look. Well I wasted my time it's definitely mediocre at best. I chuckled a couple times the whole film and feel I wasted my time again. Don't get me wrong Mel Brooks was innovative and hilarious, but not with this one. Check out his Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein for a couple of his best efforts.

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Olivia J

@RT02808372 Oct 15

its endless parade of campy Hitchcock gags makes us feel smart

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Stephen C

@bob25009 06/30/2025

Starring actor and director Melvin James Kaminsky (Born June 28th, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, celebrating his 100th birthday just 22 days before). And the late Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 09th, 1928, in Queens, New York- June 23rd, 2015, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 86 years, 6 months, and 14 days). And the late Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15th, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois- May 29th, 2008, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 71 years, 3 months, and 14 days).

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tim s

@TPSreport94 05/05/2025

Another comedic jewel from Mel Brooks. High Anxiety is an excellent spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's films. Cloris Leachman's Nurse Diesel, a Nurse Ratched-like character, is sublimely crotchety and shifty in the funniest way.

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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

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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