“A riotous spoof of Alfred Hitchcock thrillers that doubles as a loving tribute to the master of suspense, Brooks reached his comedy peak with High Anxiety!” – Chuck O’Leary

Like Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks’ underappreciated HIGH ANXIETY is not only a hilarious gag-filled spoof but a loving homage to its source material, in this case the classic thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. Drawing heavily on the plot from Spellbound (which, not coincidentally, is playing just before HIGH ANXIETY), Brooks himself stars as Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Richard Thorndyke who takes over the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. After discovering his predecessor died under suspicious circumstances, the events take a murderous turn as Thorndyke is accused of the crime and left with a full blown case of High Anxiety. Featuring many of the comedy greats from Brooks’ stable, including Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman, HIGH ANXIETY parodies practically every classic from the Master of Suspense: Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, North by Northwest and many, many more (not to mention the odd jab at Vincente Minnelli’s The Cobweb, playing later this month at Arkadin!). Hitchcock himself was so impressed by Brooks’ parody, he sent Brooks a gift-wrapped case of six very expensive bottles of Château Haut-Brion with a note thanking him for this “splendid entertainment.”

HIGH ANXIETY is playing as a double feature with the Hitchcock classic SPELLBOUND, from which it draws heavily for its psych-hospital plot. Tickets are $9 each or $15 for the double feature. Make your selection at checkout.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Arkadin presents INSTITUTIONALIZED: MENTAL INSTITUTIONS ON FILM, a series of movies that depict asylums, sanitariums, and psychiatric hospitals — some with unvarnished realism, others with surrealism, whimsy or horror. At several screenings, academics and mental health experts will introduce the film with a talk that unpacks the film’s treatment of mental healthcare and provides context on the history of psychiatric institutions.

Arkadin does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. However, we encourage researching titles to determine if a screening may contain content that could be upsetting to you. Please feel free to contact us for guidance on specific films. Information about content can also be found on Common Sense Media, IMDB and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.