High Anxiety

Play trailer

High Anxiety

PG

1977

1h 34m

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

32 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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

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.

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

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]

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

Fernando Trueba

El Pais (Spain)

08/01/2019

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

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

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

See more

lolblog T

@RT47829063 Apr 13

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

See more

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.

See more

Olivia J

@RT02808372 Oct 15

its endless parade of campy Hitchcock gags makes us feel smart

See more

Stephen C

@bob25009 06/30/2025

Funny in 1 hour and 34 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Starring actor and director Mel Brooks as Richard H. Thorndyke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See more

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.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Mel Brooks

Director

Mel Brooks

Richard H. Thorndyke

Madeline Kahn

Victoria Brisbane

Cloris Leachman

Nurse Diesel

Harvey Korman

Dr. Charles Montague

Ron Carey

Brophy

Young Frankenstein

95%

92%

Young Frankenstein

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Young Frankenstein

Royal Flash

50%

62%

Royal Flash

Watchlist

The Man With One Red Shoe

47%

39%

The Man With One Red Shoe

Watchlist

9 to 5

70%

74%

9 to 5

Watchlist

Max Dugan Returns

64%

68%

Max Dugan Returns

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

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