I think i might have liked this movie when i was 8 years old but I don't think it really stands the test of time. To be fair I have grown to dislike Mel Brooks movies more and more as I get older while my love for Hitchcock has gone in the opposite direction. High Anxiety is so toe curlingly bad it sits well with the rest of the Brooks cannon. While there are plenty of nods to classic Hitchcock from the Birds to North By Northwest through to Vertigo there is little in this film to raise it above the utterly appalling. A stupid screwball script with annoyingly delivered performances and a touch of woody allen neurosis this was a dirge from start to finish. There is no finesse in the style of Brooks and if he had stopped making films after this one the world would have been a better place. I have read that Hitchcock saw this movie at a private screening and said nothing (although later sending Brooks a case of wine) ...although partial to pranks I feel he must have been feeling generous at a time when his work was finally being reassessed. Total Dross.
Review of High Anxiety
