If you want to know a little bit about the sorry state of American society, please scroll through some of the reviews of this film...We are a humorless people that need to analyze and meta-critic everything...High Anxiety is classic Mel Brooks...is it as good as Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles? No, but its high culture compared to what stands for the contemporary Hollywood comedy, and Brooks demanded a little bit from the audience, especially in terms of intelligence...anyway, it's a great flick with a variety of hilarious performances, especially from Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman...well worth the time.

Mel Brooks is a well known name in comedy and since I also know Alfred Hitchcock movies I thought it would be a good idea to watch this one. It ended up not as great as I expected, but it is still not a bad movie. Unfortunately most of the time I didn't find it too funny. I am not sure if this was like that back when it came out as well or if the humor has changed in the mast few decades.I definitely enjoyed the parody scenes. Mainly the one in the shower, that one was hilarious. The one where the birds are after him is also pretty good. As well when he comes out of the airport in the beginning.Otherwise it wasn't that great. But I really did like the character of Nurse Diesel. This was a great one.A wonderful job by Cloris Leachman. Actually the best scenes in the movie that didn't involve Hitchcock's parody were the ones with her and Harvey Korman. I believe if they wouldn't be in it I would see this movie as below average.

By 1977 Mel Brooks had already spoofed the western, Universal horror films and movies of the silent era, so with High Anxiety he decided to take an affectionate aim at the suspense films of Alfred Hitchcock. It would probably be fair to say that the results are quite mixed, although in fairness even Brooks at his best can be uneven. The humour is a mixture of the very broad to the somewhat subtle. There are a few dud moments sprinkled throughout but it is successfully funny on occasions too. But High Anxiety sort of gets away with the poorer moments more or less and is really quite enjoyable from the point of view of its Hitchcockian references alone. If you are a fan of the master of suspense you will probably get a kick out of this one to some extent. The story has a psychiatrist with a fear of heights appointed the head doctor at the Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, when there he discovers a web of crime.Many of the films in Hitchcock's filmography are targeted, such as Spellbound (1945), Dial M for Murder (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). I'm sure there must've been others too but, those ones I actually noticed. Some of the references are dealt with in very obvious ways such as the shower scene from Psycho and the climbing frame moment from The Birds. Those ones aren't especially clever really but they have some good things about them. At other times the spoofing is less directly obvious but it's fun spotting them in any case. I have to say though that I thought the funniest sequence in the film wasn't even connected in any way to the films of the master of suspense, it was an uproarious scene where Brooks and Madeline Kahn get through airport security by being loud and annoying. It's definitely true that Brooks in the main role isn't necessarily a good thing. He's not exactly bad but he's no Gene Wilder either. If a better comic actor had played this character it might have improved the film overall I reckon. A few regular actors from his other films return here to greater effect, like Madeline Kahn as the requisite Hitchcock ice blonde, while Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman give amusingly spirited performances as fellow doctors who are up to no good. In the final analysis, while High Anxiety isn't a total success, it's very likable and for this reason I find it very easy to get on board with it.

Unlike Woody Allen, Mel Brooks Films are better when He is off Screen. In short doses the Famed Funny Man can pull it off, but His Charisma is not enough to pull off the Lead as is attested by this rather Flaccid Performance. The Comedy works the best when Brooks is in the Director's Chair and not Mugging it up.Nowhere near at the Top of His Game, the Movie finds itself in the Not Best but Not Worst Category. There are enough Gags that work to make it a worthwhile View, but Sadly some of the Stuff just Bombs Big Time.Unfortunately the Hitchcock Take-Offs that the Movie is built around don't come off as well as when the Funny Cast just goes Bonkers for no reason other than to be Silly and not paying any attention to the Hitch References. Go figure. It was a Good Idea, maybe, but once on the Screen the Tribute to Alfred Hitchcock seems a bit forced and all too obvious. Best for Mel Brooks Fans but Hitchcock Lovers may be disappointed.