In 2007, Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese decided to “embark on a secret experiment in filmmaking.”

Scorsese revealed he had come across a lost project by the master of suspense himself: Alfred Hitchcock.

Apparently, three and a half pages (with a page missing in the middle) had been recovered from an unproduced Hitchcock script called “The Key to Reserva,” and Scorsese was game for getting the film made.

“We’re going to do it : like my own Hitchcock film. But it has to look – it has to be the way he would have made the picture then, only making it now,” Scorsese says in the brief documentary that bookends the Web-released project.

The ensuing picture is a thoroughly entertaining tribute that feels like stepping back in time to the 1950s masterpieces Hitchcock delivered in rapid succession.

The complete film can be viewed here.)

The master’s trademark touches are instantly apparent: Saul Bass-style opening titles and Bernard Herrmann music, long tracking shots and extreme closeups, all wrapped in shadowy intrigue.

Simon Baker portrays the unnamed hero (although the monogram on his handkerchief gives a clue to his identity). The story picks up as he searches a concert hall for a crucial key during a symphony performance. Meanwhile, an Eva Marie Saint-esque heroine is held captive by the “villain” in the audience. As the hero discovers the key hidden in a light bulb, he is attacked by a violent violinist. It all leads to an even more mysterious bottle of Reserva wine.

The 9-minute film features more Hitchcock homages than “High Anxiety,” with “Rear Window,” “North by Northwest” “Notorious,” “Vertigo,” Psycho” and, most hilariously, “The Birds” among those cited.

But there’s a punch line to this project.

The film is actually a commercial Scorsese produced for Spanish winemaker Freixenet.

There is no “lost Hitchcock script.” The documentary at the beginning is actually a mockumentary – which explains why Scorsese comes across even loopier than normal.

“The Key to Reserva” is the kind of film geek in-joke that only someone like Scorsese could create. It’s as fun to try to spot all the Hitchcock references as it is to marvel at how well the piece is made.

What’s most impressive is the movie really functions as a taut suspense ditty. Even without knowing the whos and whys of what’s going on, the viewer is immediately sucked in.

In one respect, Scorsese has crafted an elaborate April Fool’s gag on the viewing public. In another respect, he’s made a big fat commercial.

Either way, Hitchcock would have likely been amused.