Review of High Anxiety (1977) by Rebecca H — 02 Nov 2008

For a Hitchcock spoof, this isn't very much like Hitchcock other than some mirrored shots. Because High Anxiety is a 'loving' spoof, it's never very funny or satirical. This follows a psychiatrist who discovers foul play at his hospital. All the dialogue is exposition, and whether this is deliberate or not, just comes across as poorly made and the kinky sex jokes aren't funny and are irrelevant.

On average there is less than one joke every two minutes, which is extremely poor for a spoof. There is a distinct lack of comic timing, jokes are poorly visualised and scenes linger uncomfortably, a problem I've noticed in other films directed by Mel Brooks. And guess what? Mel Brooks can't act, so casting himself as the lead is a bit of a misstep.

This is mostly tedious, and never goes anywhere, and in the whole film I only found three jokes funny, all to do with the cameraman.