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* LoudOfWar: As BrownNote details, one of the deaths is caused by a loud car stereo.
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''High Anxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''Film/{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
to:
''High Anxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' ''Film/TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''Film/{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
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*** And Thorndyke meets up with someone at the "Film/NorthByNorthwest corner" of Golden-Gate Park.
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** Which is likely a stealth ShoutOut to [[BattleaxeNurse Nurse Ratched]], who was described [[[[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest in the book]] as having a fairly notable pair.
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** Which is likely a stealth ShoutOut to [[BattleaxeNurse Nurse Ratched]], who was described [[[[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest [[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest in the book]] as having a fairly notable pair.
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** Which is likely a stealth ShoutOut to [[BattleAxNurse Nurse Ratchet]], who was described [[[[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest in the book]] as having a fairly notable pair.
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** Which is likely a stealth ShoutOut to [[BattleAxNurse [[BattleaxeNurse Nurse Ratchet]], Ratched]], who was described [[[[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest in the book]] as having a fairly notable pair.
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** Which is likely a stealth ShoutOut to [[BattleAxNurse Nurse Ratchet]], who was described [[[[Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest in the book]] as having a fairly notable pair.
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-->'''Thorndyke''': I beeped! I beeped! Take me away! Take me back to Russia! Put me in irons! I beeped! The [[MadBomber mad beeper]] is loose! Take away the beeper! Take me away!
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Just expanding the page.
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* FanDisservice: Mel Brooks taking a shower.
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** Most of the names are borrowed from other Hitchcock films. Thorndyke, for instance, is similar to names used in both ''RearWindow'' and ''NorthByNorthwest''.
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** Most of the names are borrowed from other Hitchcock films. Thorndyke, for instance, is similar to names used in both ''RearWindow'' and ''NorthByNorthwest''.''Film/NorthByNorthwest''.
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* CrushingHandshake: Dr. Charles Montague does this to the main character when they're formally introduced, and during the handshake he says "I was the one in charge ''before'' you came".
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* OneSceneWonder: Future big time director Barry Levinson is cast as a high-strung bellboy who gets progressively more irritated with Brooks' requests for a newspaper until he goes in [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]]-mode. It is considered among the most memorable scenes of the film.
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Crosswicking.
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* DisconnectedByDeath: Subverted, along with tons of suspense film tropes, when the protagonist, Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, calls up Victoria Brisbane and "Braces" attempts to kill him in the phone booth. She mistakes his agonized gasping for an [[HarassingPhoneCall obscene phone call]].
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* DysfunctionJunction: Every single character is nutty as a fruitcake.
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* PrettyInMink: Victoria wears a fox wrap when on a date.
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''High Anxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
to:
''High Anxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''{{Vertigo}}''.''Film/{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
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* StairwellChase: The Belltower scene of ''{{Vertigo}}'' is both replicated and parodied.
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* StairwellChase: The Belltower scene of ''{{Vertigo}}'' ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'' is both replicated and parodied.
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* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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* RedundancyDepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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* RedundancyDepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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And the actual line
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-->'''Thorndyke''': Oh my God I '''beeped'''! I'm the [[MadBomber Mad Beeper]]!
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-->'''Thorndyke''': Oh my God I '''beeped'''! I'm the beeped! I beeped! Take me away! Take me back to Russia! Put me in irons! I beeped! The [[MadBomber Mad Beeper]]!mad beeper]] is loose! Take away the beeper! Take me away!
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I cannot begin to guess how I managed to screw that up.
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::'''Thorndyke''': Oh my God I '''beeped'''! I'm the [[MadBomber Mad Beeper]]!
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CELERY?!
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* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: You probably shouldn't try BavarianFireDrill-ing your way through airport security like that nowadays.
::'''Thorndyke''': Oh my God I '''beeped'''! I'm the [[MadBomber Mad Beeper]]!
::'''Thorndyke''': Oh my God I '''beeped'''! I'm the [[MadBomber Mad Beeper]]!
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Albert Whitlock does not play the violent patient; Charlie Callas does.
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Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (the H. stands for "[[MarxBrothers Harpo]]") is assigned as the new administrator of The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. He arrives at Los Angeles to take his position and meets the eccentric staff: Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten), and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Diesel is extremely domineering and is soon revealed to be in a BDSM relationship with the submissive Montague. Thorndyke also meets violent patient Arthur Brisbane (Albert Whitlock), a wealthy industrialist who had a nervous breakdown the year before. He currently thinks he is a cocker spaniel.
to:
Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (the H. stands for "[[MarxBrothers Harpo]]") is assigned as the new administrator of The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. He arrives at Los Angeles to take his position and meets the eccentric staff: Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten), and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Diesel is extremely domineering and is soon revealed to be in a BDSM relationship with the submissive Montague. Thorndyke also meets violent patient [[spoiler: (Charlie Callas as a fake Arthur Brisbane (Albert Whitlock), Brisbane)]] / industrialist [[spoiler: Albert Whitlock as the real Arthur Brisbane, revealed in the bell tower at the end of the movie)]] Arthur Brisbane, a wealthy industrialist who had a nervous breakdown the year before. He currently thinks he is a cocker spaniel.
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* RedundancyDepartmentmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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* RedundancyDepartmentmentOfRedundancyDepartment: RedundancyDepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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* TheStinger: A scene of Thorndyke running across the San Francisco Bay, right underneath the Golden Gate Bridge is superimposed underneath the credits.
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** A second one occurs near the end of the film, involving pigeon dung, in a direct parody of ''TheBirds''.
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* RedundancyDepartmentmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Brofy's schtick when he's first introduced.
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* NotInFrontOfTheKid: Dr. Thorndyke is giving a conference, and is about to discuss penis envy when a man comes in with his two kids, so he forces himself to talk about "peepee envy" and how it relates to the "woowoo".
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** Later on he des this to her in the park, to avoid attention from some cops.
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** Later on he des does this to her in the park, to avoid attention from some cops.
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* ClimbingClimax: Parodying the one in ''Vertigo'', naturally.
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* ClimbingClimax: Parodying the one in ''Vertigo'', naturally. It was even filmed in the same tower.
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remove pointless self-wicks
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''HighAnxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
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!!''HighAnxiety'' provides examples of:
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trope renamed at TRS
* MundaneMadeAwesome: Lampshaded. At the beginning of the film, Thorndyke walks through an airport accompanied by strident orchestral music. When he finally reaches the exit, he proclaims, "What a dramatic airport!"
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* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Lampshaded. At the beginning of the film, Thorndyke walks through an airport accompanied by strident orchestral music. When he finally reaches the exit, he proclaims, "What a dramatic airport!"
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moved to namespace
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/High-Anxiety-poster-1-331x500_1017.jpg
''HighAnxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (the H. stands for "[[MarxBrothers Harpo]]") is assigned as the new administrator of The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. He arrives at Los Angeles to take his position and meets the eccentric staff: Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten), and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Diesel is extremely domineering and is soon revealed to be in a BDSM relationship with the submissive Montague. Thorndyke also meets violent patient Arthur Brisbane (Albert Whitlock), a wealthy industrialist who had a nervous breakdown the year before. He currently thinks he is a cocker spaniel.
Wentworth wants to leave the institute but Diesel refuses to let him. She agrees after an argument. When Wentworth is driving home that night, his radio blasts rock music loudly and will not shut off. He is trapped in his car, and he dies from an ear hemorrhage. The following day, Thorndyke books a room in the vertigo-inducing Hyatt Regency (hotel of) San Francisco. He is suffering from a sense of vertigo but finds his room located at the top floor.
Thorndyke is contacted by Victoria Brisbane (Madeline Kahn), "the Cocker's daughter". She wants him to take a closer look at her father's case. He does so and discovers that his patient may not be the actual Brisbane. The Institute apparently could use the money from the Brisbane family, and keeps the real Arthur prisoner. Diesel decides to get rid of her boss. She hires the assassin Braces (Rudy De Luca) to frame Thorndyke for murder. Richard has to [[ClearMyName clear his name]] before resolving the case.
----
!!''HighAnxiety'' provides examples of:
* AllWomenAreDomsAllMenAreSubs: Diesel and Montague.
* AlterKacker: The "loud and annoying" characters Thorndyke and Victoria use to hide in plain sight at the airport.
* BattleaxeNurse: Nurse Diesel.
* BedlamHouse: The Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous, which is less interested in curing its rich clientele than in keeping them indefinitely and thus getting more of their money.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: Thorndyke is put in an awkward position when giving a speech on penis envy and other decidedly adult subjects, when one of the psychiatrists in the audience brings his kids along.
* BrownNote: Dr. Wentworth gets trapped in his car and killed from an ear hemorrhage caused by the loud rock music blaring from the car radio.
* CameraFiend: Brophy. [[ChekhovsGun It comes in handy later on.]]
* ChairReveal: Subverted. Professor Lilloman, Thorndyke's mentor, is found like this. He is slumped over horribly with his eyes and mouth hanging open, apparently long dead. When people start screaming, Lilloman wakes up. He was only sleeping.
* ClimbingClimax: Parodying the one in ''Vertigo'', naturally.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: For renowned psychologist Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, his middle name "Harpo" is embarrassing.
* EnhanceButton: Parodied. As a secondary character blows up a photograph, he pins up a series of even greater enlargements until he finally gets one roughly 20 feet across, which he examines with a magnifying glass before exclaiming, "Aha!"
* EpiphanyTherapy: Parodied. Lilloldman talks Thorndyke through the causes of his "high anxiety" ''while he's hanging from a broken staircase'', and the epiphany cures him instantly, allowing him to pull himself up and run the rest of the way.
* FakeOutMakeOut: While Victoria is in Thorndyke's hotel room, someone else comes in. She immediately kisses Thorndyke in an absurd attempt to avoid attention.
** Later on he des this to her in the park, to avoid attention from some cops.
* GagBoobs: Nurse Diesel - not their size, but their shape.
* GoodHairEvilHair: The villainous Dr. Montague has a Pencil Mustache.
* {{It Is Pronounced Tro-PAY}}: Thorndyke addresses his mentor Lilloman as "Professor Little Old Man" (accent on Man), and is corrected: "Little-Oldman" (accent on Old).
* LargeHam: Mel Brooks and Madeline Kahn at the airport, trying to get past airport security by being loud and annoying {{Alter Kacker}}s.
* LooksLikeSheIsEnjoyingIt: Thorndyke calls Victoria moments before getting attacked by a strangler. She immediately concludes that it's an anonymous dirty phone call. And while she does start with "I'm not that kind of girl", she almost immediately switches to "So... what are you wearing?"
* MacGuffin: Parodied. Thorndyke (who is terrified of heights) is checking into a hotel when the receptionist informs him that though the hotel had reserved him a lower-level floor, "a Mr. MacGuffin called and requested we change it to the 17th floor." Though MacGuffin is probably a reference to the villains stalking the main character, the name is never mentioned again.
* NoFourthWall: The Fourth Wall is literally broken. At the end, as the camera is pulling away from Thorndyke and his new wife as they occupy themselves on the honeymoon bed, it crashes through the fourth wall of the motel room, resulting in a huge hole in the wall and prompting the off screen camera operators to panic ("Just keep going!"). This is a parody of the through-the-wall tracking shot used in a few Hitchcock films.
* OneSceneWonder: Future big time director Barry Levinson is cast as a high-strung bellboy who gets progressively more irritated with Brooks' requests for a newspaper until he goes in [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]]-mode. It is considered among the most memorable scenes of the film.
* PsychoStrings: The ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' shower scene parody uses the shrill cries of an angry bellhop in place of the strings: "Here! Here's your paper! Here's your lousy, stinking paper! Happy now?". Thorndyke's reaction?: "That boy gets no tip".
* RadioVoice: Parodied. Thorndyke asks his secretary to repeat her intercom message without holding her nose. She replies in a perfectly normal voice.
* RefugeInAudacity: To get past airport security, Victoria and Richard act like a bickering couple, knowing that the louder and more obnoxious they act, the more people would ignore them.
* ScareChord: {{Lampshaded}} when the characters react to it.
* SophisticatedAsHell: An entire discussion in a psychological conference is, due to one psychologist bringing his children, conducted using such technical terms as the peepee, balloons, and caca-doody.
* SorryILeftTheBGMOn: The dramatic music as Thorndyke drives from the airport comes from the Los Angeles Philarmonic tour bus.
* ShoutOut: An extended one - Thorndyke pesters a bellboy with repeated requests about getting a newspaper, wanting to look in the obituary for information concerning Dr. Wentworth's demise. He then takes a shower, during which the bellboy comes and in a frenzy mimics stabbing Thorndyke with the paper while screaming "Here's your paper! Happy now?! Happy?" The paper's ink runs down the drain, a reference to ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. Bonus points for [[GeniusBonus the bellboy's shrieks emulating]] [[StealthPun the violin shrieks from the original.]]
** There's also a scatological take on ''TheBirds''.
** Most of the names are borrowed from other Hitchcock films. Thorndyke, for instance, is similar to names used in both ''RearWindow'' and ''NorthByNorthwest''.
** Braces is a takeoff on Jaws from then-recent ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Rather a departure from the Hitchcock theme, but RuleOfFunny is in effect.
* StairwellChase: The Belltower scene of ''{{Vertigo}}'' is both replicated and parodied.
** In the very same tower, no less.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Lampshaded. At the beginning of the film, Thorndyke walks through an airport accompanied by strident orchestral music. When he finally reaches the exit, he proclaims, "What a dramatic airport!"
* WindowPain: Parodied. Thorndyke , the new head of a mental asylum, receives a rock to the window with a message -- a friendly welcome note from the psycho ward.
----
''HighAnxiety'' is a 1977 comedy, directed by Creator/MelBrooks. It is an AffectionateParody of the films of Creator/AlfredHitchcock. While there are [[ShoutOut numerous allusions]] to almost any Hitchcock film between ''TheLodger'' (1927) and ''FamilyPlot'' (1976), the main plot and setting are taken from ''{{Spellbound}}'' and ''{{Vertigo}}''. There are also minor allusions to films not directed by Hitchcock, such as ''ThePinkPanther'' and ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', with characters resembling Jacques Clouseau and Jaws.
Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (the H. stands for "[[MarxBrothers Harpo]]") is assigned as the new administrator of The Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous. He arrives at Los Angeles to take his position and meets the eccentric staff: Dr. Montague (Harvey Korman), Dr. Wentworth (Dick Van Patten), and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman). Diesel is extremely domineering and is soon revealed to be in a BDSM relationship with the submissive Montague. Thorndyke also meets violent patient Arthur Brisbane (Albert Whitlock), a wealthy industrialist who had a nervous breakdown the year before. He currently thinks he is a cocker spaniel.
Wentworth wants to leave the institute but Diesel refuses to let him. She agrees after an argument. When Wentworth is driving home that night, his radio blasts rock music loudly and will not shut off. He is trapped in his car, and he dies from an ear hemorrhage. The following day, Thorndyke books a room in the vertigo-inducing Hyatt Regency (hotel of) San Francisco. He is suffering from a sense of vertigo but finds his room located at the top floor.
Thorndyke is contacted by Victoria Brisbane (Madeline Kahn), "the Cocker's daughter". She wants him to take a closer look at her father's case. He does so and discovers that his patient may not be the actual Brisbane. The Institute apparently could use the money from the Brisbane family, and keeps the real Arthur prisoner. Diesel decides to get rid of her boss. She hires the assassin Braces (Rudy De Luca) to frame Thorndyke for murder. Richard has to [[ClearMyName clear his name]] before resolving the case.
----
!!''HighAnxiety'' provides examples of:
* AllWomenAreDomsAllMenAreSubs: Diesel and Montague.
* AlterKacker: The "loud and annoying" characters Thorndyke and Victoria use to hide in plain sight at the airport.
* BattleaxeNurse: Nurse Diesel.
* BedlamHouse: The Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous, which is less interested in curing its rich clientele than in keeping them indefinitely and thus getting more of their money.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: Thorndyke is put in an awkward position when giving a speech on penis envy and other decidedly adult subjects, when one of the psychiatrists in the audience brings his kids along.
* BrownNote: Dr. Wentworth gets trapped in his car and killed from an ear hemorrhage caused by the loud rock music blaring from the car radio.
* CameraFiend: Brophy. [[ChekhovsGun It comes in handy later on.]]
* ChairReveal: Subverted. Professor Lilloman, Thorndyke's mentor, is found like this. He is slumped over horribly with his eyes and mouth hanging open, apparently long dead. When people start screaming, Lilloman wakes up. He was only sleeping.
* ClimbingClimax: Parodying the one in ''Vertigo'', naturally.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: For renowned psychologist Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke, his middle name "Harpo" is embarrassing.
* EnhanceButton: Parodied. As a secondary character blows up a photograph, he pins up a series of even greater enlargements until he finally gets one roughly 20 feet across, which he examines with a magnifying glass before exclaiming, "Aha!"
* EpiphanyTherapy: Parodied. Lilloldman talks Thorndyke through the causes of his "high anxiety" ''while he's hanging from a broken staircase'', and the epiphany cures him instantly, allowing him to pull himself up and run the rest of the way.
* FakeOutMakeOut: While Victoria is in Thorndyke's hotel room, someone else comes in. She immediately kisses Thorndyke in an absurd attempt to avoid attention.
** Later on he des this to her in the park, to avoid attention from some cops.
* GagBoobs: Nurse Diesel - not their size, but their shape.
* GoodHairEvilHair: The villainous Dr. Montague has a Pencil Mustache.
* {{It Is Pronounced Tro-PAY}}: Thorndyke addresses his mentor Lilloman as "Professor Little Old Man" (accent on Man), and is corrected: "Little-Oldman" (accent on Old).
* LargeHam: Mel Brooks and Madeline Kahn at the airport, trying to get past airport security by being loud and annoying {{Alter Kacker}}s.
* LooksLikeSheIsEnjoyingIt: Thorndyke calls Victoria moments before getting attacked by a strangler. She immediately concludes that it's an anonymous dirty phone call. And while she does start with "I'm not that kind of girl", she almost immediately switches to "So... what are you wearing?"
* MacGuffin: Parodied. Thorndyke (who is terrified of heights) is checking into a hotel when the receptionist informs him that though the hotel had reserved him a lower-level floor, "a Mr. MacGuffin called and requested we change it to the 17th floor." Though MacGuffin is probably a reference to the villains stalking the main character, the name is never mentioned again.
* NoFourthWall: The Fourth Wall is literally broken. At the end, as the camera is pulling away from Thorndyke and his new wife as they occupy themselves on the honeymoon bed, it crashes through the fourth wall of the motel room, resulting in a huge hole in the wall and prompting the off screen camera operators to panic ("Just keep going!"). This is a parody of the through-the-wall tracking shot used in a few Hitchcock films.
* OneSceneWonder: Future big time director Barry Levinson is cast as a high-strung bellboy who gets progressively more irritated with Brooks' requests for a newspaper until he goes in [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]]-mode. It is considered among the most memorable scenes of the film.
* PsychoStrings: The ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' shower scene parody uses the shrill cries of an angry bellhop in place of the strings: "Here! Here's your paper! Here's your lousy, stinking paper! Happy now?". Thorndyke's reaction?: "That boy gets no tip".
* RadioVoice: Parodied. Thorndyke asks his secretary to repeat her intercom message without holding her nose. She replies in a perfectly normal voice.
* RefugeInAudacity: To get past airport security, Victoria and Richard act like a bickering couple, knowing that the louder and more obnoxious they act, the more people would ignore them.
* ScareChord: {{Lampshaded}} when the characters react to it.
* SophisticatedAsHell: An entire discussion in a psychological conference is, due to one psychologist bringing his children, conducted using such technical terms as the peepee, balloons, and caca-doody.
* SorryILeftTheBGMOn: The dramatic music as Thorndyke drives from the airport comes from the Los Angeles Philarmonic tour bus.
* ShoutOut: An extended one - Thorndyke pesters a bellboy with repeated requests about getting a newspaper, wanting to look in the obituary for information concerning Dr. Wentworth's demise. He then takes a shower, during which the bellboy comes and in a frenzy mimics stabbing Thorndyke with the paper while screaming "Here's your paper! Happy now?! Happy?" The paper's ink runs down the drain, a reference to ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. Bonus points for [[GeniusBonus the bellboy's shrieks emulating]] [[StealthPun the violin shrieks from the original.]]
** There's also a scatological take on ''TheBirds''.
** Most of the names are borrowed from other Hitchcock films. Thorndyke, for instance, is similar to names used in both ''RearWindow'' and ''NorthByNorthwest''.
** Braces is a takeoff on Jaws from then-recent ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Rather a departure from the Hitchcock theme, but RuleOfFunny is in effect.
* StairwellChase: The Belltower scene of ''{{Vertigo}}'' is both replicated and parodied.
** In the very same tower, no less.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Lampshaded. At the beginning of the film, Thorndyke walks through an airport accompanied by strident orchestral music. When he finally reaches the exit, he proclaims, "What a dramatic airport!"
* WindowPain: Parodied. Thorndyke , the new head of a mental asylum, receives a rock to the window with a message -- a friendly welcome note from the psycho ward.
----
