The Silence of the Hams

The Silence of the Hams
Film Poster
Directed by	Ezio Greggio
Written by	Ezio Greggio
Starring	Ezio Greggio Dom DeLuise Billy Zane
Distributed by	October Films
Release date(s)	March 11, 1994
Running time	81 minutes
Country	Italy / U.S.A.
Language	English

The Silence of the Hams aka Il Silenzio dei Prosciutti (1994) is a comedy movie directed and written by Ezio Greggio and features an image-by-image parody of Thriller. It is a parody of many horror movies, notably The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho.

The comedy in this parody, aside from making references to other movies of the era, is largely driven by tightly packed puns, gags, continuity errors and video splicing. As a curiosity, there is a Mel Brooks cameo in this film.

Plot

The film follows rookie detective Jo Dee Foster, played by Zane, on his first case. The case involves a serial killer, wanted for over one-hundred and twenty murders. In order to find the killer, he must enlist the help of convicted murderer Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza. However, during the investigation, his girlfriend, Jane Wine, is asked by her boss to take a large sum of money to the bank. Instead of doing this, she leaves town with the money. While hiding, she decides to rest at the Cemetery Motel, which is later revealed to be a cemetery named Motel after its owner, Antonio Motel. Jo must then enlist the help of Det. Balsam (Played by Martin Balsam - the Private Investigator who hunted down Marion Crane in the original Psycho film) and Dr. Pizza to not only find the murderer, but his missing girlfriend as well. All of this takes the cast on many adventures at the Cemetery Motel until the finale, in which many questions are answered, including questions no one would ask. At the end of the movie Lily, Jane's sister, turns out to be old pedophobe Det. Balsam in a sleeveless pink dress complete with shaved armpits in a rubber female bodysuit.

Cast

• Ezio Greggio - Antonio Motel
• Dom DeLuise - Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza
• Billy Zane - Jo Dee Foster
• Joanna Pacuła - Lily Wine
• Charlene Tilton - Jane Wine
• Martin Balsam - Det. Martin Balsam
• Stuart Pankin - Insp. Pete Putrid
• John Astin - The Ranger
• Tony Cox - Jail Guard
• Mel Brooks - Checkout Guest (Uncredited)
• Phyllis Diller - Old Secretary
• Shelly Winters - Mrs. Motel (The Mother)
• Bubba Smith - Olaf
• Larry Storch - Sergeant
• John Carpenter - Trench coat man
• Eddie Deezen - Cameraman

Critical Response

"Silence of the Hams" was universally panned by both critics and movie goers alike. Its was also harshly criticized by fans of the film it was spoofing, The Silence of the Lambs. The film has a 0% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on eight reviews.

External links

• The Silence of the Hams at the Internet Movie Database
• The Silence of the Hams at AllRovi