Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Mel Brooks
Starring: Brooks and his typical stock crew of actors
From: 20th Century Fox
At least Sir Alfred Hitchcock really liked this...
For loving (or at the least really enjoying) some of the films directed by Mel Brooks, I haven't seen all of them by any means... even if his output there was minimal in comparison to most famous directors. This played about two weeks ago on the FXM channel and via my DVR recorded it. As I am me, I waited until last night to give it a shot.
While it does not have as many laughs as something like Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles or even History of the World, Part I, it was still an entertaining send-up of Hitchcock films. Not only was this made in the twilight of The Master of Suspense's life and was able to see it before his death, he worked with Brooks on the script. As Mel put in the effort to replicate the look and feel of Hitchcock's films, it is a nice love letter to those that love the director's oeuvre. As always humor is especially subjective so others will find this funnier than I did. At least I derived joy from such things as the fourth wall breaking moments, the acknowledgment of such Hitch tropes as the MacGuffin, and directly referencing some of his most famous films... Vertigo is an obvious one; Brooks as the lead has the title affliction, which is like a mix of acrophobia and vertigo.
Mix in a cast of actors that typically appeared in Brooks movies (the late Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Dick Van Patten, etc.) and it helps make this a good time, although too scattershot for me to think of this as one of my favorites.
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