High Anxiety

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High Anxiety

PG

1977

1h 34m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

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.

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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

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.

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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…

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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.

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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]

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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.

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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.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 10, 2026

High Anxiety = a 3.5 star Movie!!!

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Joel H

@786Joel Aug 27, 2026

Despite being a satire of Alfred Hitchcock films, High Anxiety isn’t very funny, and it isn’t highly suspenseful, either. Every joke is telegraphed and goes on too long, and the plot is bland and predictable. In fact, I was about to give up on this Mel Brooks parody until Madeline Kahn showed up. She was like a breath of fresh, comedic air in every scene she appeared. And while she didn’t completely save this movie, she kept me watching until the end. You don’t really hear people quoting or referencing High Anxiety as much as they do other Mel Brooks movies, and now that I’ve seen it, I can see why.

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Peter S

@Budfudlacker May 9, 2026

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, 2026

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, 2026

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, 2025

its endless parade of campy Hitchcock gags makes us feel smart

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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

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