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The good Doctor has just been hired to head the prestigious Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very Very Nervous, after the previous director died under uncertain circumstances. There, he meets with his eccentric staff, the seedy Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), the neurotic Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten), and the pallid, living horror that is Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Almost immediately upon arriving, Thorndyke begins receiving strange messages from someone claiming all is not right at the Institute. This doesn’t sit well with Thorndyke, who is not only a consummate professional but also suffers from what they used to call “high anxiety.”

These days, it’s just called “anxiety,” and in today’s world, someone would probably boycott this film the way it makes fun of Thorndyke’s exaggerated condition. Thank God this film was made in the ‘70s, I guess, because the Doctor’s condition serves as a plot device that propels him from one odd development after another. The Institute seems to take on a lot of patients, but none of them are ever allowed to leave. Wentworth seems deathly afraid of...something. And there’s something sick and wrong happening with Montague and Diesel.

I don’t dare describe it, because to do so would be to recall it and to recall it would be to enter a world of madness.

But the real story here isn’t the story itself, so much as what it affectionately lifts from Hitchcock's extensive library of thrills and chills. The most significant scenes and situations in the film mimic, or are at least reminiscent of, memorable moments from one Hitchcock classic or another. If you’re a fan of the Master, you’ll probably pee yourself with delight at the number of winks, nods and in-jokes. It would be like watching ME watch re-runs of Red Dwarf with my college friends. Of course by that I mean there would be laughing, drinking, farting, and the eating of rotisserie chicken with bare hands.

If you’re not that familiar with Hitchcock, I’m happy to report that the story - and the humor - hold up well enough on their own. I admit to having seen only a few of Hitch’s films, but they were all classics, and I enjoyed them all. I cannot stress enough how suspenseful I found Rear Window, even though it’s about a guy in a wheelchair who spends two hours gawking at his neighbors through pair of binoculars.

Of course, even if you’ve never seen any of the films referenced, odds are you’ll recognize several iconic scenes being parodied, and you’ll laugh anyway. That’s how pervasive Hitchcock’s influence was on cinema for many years; even if you never saw his work, you not only knew the most famous scenes, you probably even knew the context. You’ve seen the shower scene in Psycho lampooned a hundred times, but rarely have you seen it done this well, and it’s the only place you can see it with a middle aged Jewish guy on the wrong side of the curtain.

I’m not sure this quite ranks with Brooks’ most beloved work, if only because the humor here is somewhat muted - at least by Brooksian standards. It’s consistently funny, but there are more hearty chuckles than belly laughs. The best moments, while they’re not likely to last you a lifetime, still manage to land well. And of course if you’re a Hitchcock fan, know that Hitchcock himself (who reportedly assisted with the screenplay) loved High Anxiety so much, he sent Brooks enough vintage wine to drown a water buffalo.

I’m not sure I liked it THAT much, but I’m more than happy to say that I came away more than happy. So do me a favor the next time someone asks you about High Anxiety, would you?

Tell them you’ve heard it was “good.” And them you heard it from me.

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