High Anxiety (1977)

High Anxiety is Mel Brooks at his most cleverly controlled: a loving Hitchcock pastiche that doesn’t just toss out gags, but builds them with the same meticulous camera moves, ominous music cues, and mounting dread the master of suspense would recognize. Brooks turns a psychiatrist’s fear of heights into a comic engine that keeps paying off, while the asylum setting lets Madeline Kahn and Cloris Leachman glide in with deliciously heightened characters who feel both ridiculous and oddly plausible. The vibe is buoyant and mischievous, yet it still plays like a real mystery-thriller in miniature—so the laughs land harder because the tension is genuinely, expertly staged. If you don’t enjoy parodies or you’re sensitive to some cartoonish violence and suggestive bits, it may not be your prescription, but for anyone who likes smart spoofing with craftsmanship behind it, this is a treat.

High Anxiety is Mel Brooks trying to mash up a Hitchcock-style thriller with his own gag-driven comedy, and you can feel the affection for the source material in nearly every scene. The catch is that it leans so hard on imitation and parody that, if you’re not already tickled by Hitchcock references, a lot of it can play more clever than genuinely funny. The mystery plot is busier than it is gripping, which means stretches where you’re waiting for the next big laugh or suspense beat and getting something a bit thinner instead. Still, Brooks, Madeline Kahn, and Cloris Leachman bring enough comic personality to keep it watchable—just don’t go in expecting the sharpest, most original Brooks at his peak.