Damn. I find THIS funny? I must admit I'm really disappointed in myself, but oh well. "Silence Of The Hams" never even comes close to being well-written or well-directed, and like many spoofs it has a fair share of total groaners. I mean, we're talking about the kind of movie here that names a Hannibal Lecter spoof Dr.Animal Cannibal Pizza. I can barely comprehend how devastatingly witless that joke truly is. And then later a Norman Bates copy shows up and his name turns out to be, God help us all, Antonio Motel. And instead of Sharon Stone, there's...Sharon Bone. These makers really do not like overtime. Somehow though, the movie still has a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, probably because writer/director/star Ezio Greggio got a lot of inspiration from "Naked Gun". The entire script feels like Frank Drebin could walk in any second, the dialogues are crammed with all kinds of stupid misunderstandings. I also very much liked Antonio's narration, which usually provides the biggest laughs of them all. If you turn of your brain completely, this movie is great. If you don't: courage.
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Sandcooler12 December 2010
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I like movie spoofs, but I had been avoiding this one under the impression that it was really bad. I had a lousy night and was looking for a stupid comedy movie to watch, so I finally gave this one a try.
I needn't have been avoiding it for so long. I actually did find it pretty funny. The really good spoof movies I think probably write a lot of gags, and then only put the best of them into the movie. The poorer ones put them all in. The worst put them all in, but the writers were so bad, none of the gags are funny. I'd put this in the middle category.
Despite the title, the movie is more of a spoof of Psycho, with some elements from Silence of the Lambs thrown in, and then some brief spoofy references to other movies.
There's a lot here that doesn't work. I didn't think any of the funny names were funny, but then funny names so rarely are. There are also some gags borrowed from other spoofs, but at least some of them still work. For example, in a shower scene taken from Psycho, the curtain is pulled back to reveal a small orchestra of string musicians. That's been in at least a couple of Mel Brooks' movies (and he has a cameo in this one). That gag is used twice in this film, as when a woman who has just stolen money from her boss is driving in her car and we hear dialog we've already heard running through her head (as in Psycho also). It turns out there's a car next to her, and the people are shouting the dialog through megaphones at her. Stupid, but amusing.
There's a ridiculous scene where the FBI hero shows up at an asylum, and when asked for his badge he produces a waffle. Surrealism is alive! The man asking for the badge was seemingly behind a door, with a little slot to look out of. As he opens this door, and the camera pulls back, we see the door guard is actually just holding a board in front of his face!
Another Psycho gag is when Martin Balsam falls backwards down a flight of stairs. As much as I like Psycho, that scene looked fairly goofy. Here, he falls down and since the stairs are actually being back-projected (or bluescreened), they turn around 360 degrees, and he also inexplicably falls through the sky as well. I found that amusing. When he finally hits the landing, he's stabbed by a knife, then a barbecue fork, and a number of other things including a dildo. That was just stupid.
So anyway, I feel this movie, while not great, is underrated. If you like movie spoofs, and you're familiar with Hitchcock's Psycho and Silence of the Lambs, I think it's likely you'll find some humor in it as I did. -
RodrigAndrisan10 April 2017Ezio Greggio is trying hard to make us laugh. The film is full of gags but you can not have fun at all of them, many are downright infantile. I smiled at the scene with that huge coffin, that's all. Massive inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs", the film is lost somewhere in the "purgatory" of these two masterpieces. The result is a mediocre parody. Not even the presence of Martin Balsam, the original detective in "Psycho" doesn't save the film. Not even the beauty of Joanna Pacula. Neither the sexy forms of the little Charlene Tilton. Not even Mel Brooks in his short scene. Not even those 3 cameos of John Landis, Joe Dante and John Carpenter. Ezio Greggio is OK, he has a lot of imagination but, it's not funny. Dom DeLuise(very funny comic actor in other movies) and Billy Zane are both commonplace. You will need someone to tickle you in your sensitive areas, or to tickle yourself, to succeed to laugh...
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ecarle7 July 2004I can't think of another movie in which an actor replayed his most famous role...for laughs. Millions of people over several decades saw Martin Balsam as the Detective who Gets Killed on the Stairs in "Psycho" (1960). And here he was, 34 years later, playing his every scene from the original as a gag.
Unlike "Psycho" shower murder victim Janet Leigh, Balsam always refused to give interviews on his scenes in "Psycho," feeling it was given too much notice over his other films (he won the 1965 Oscar for "A Thousand Clowns.") I guess he was finally willing to revisit the detective -- for pay. Maybe it was revenge for Balsam to play the role in so bad a movie this time.
Yeah, "Silence of the Hams" is terrible, but as a film artifact, I find Balsam's appearance amazing. His physical appearance, too. He's a fair sight more elderly and frail in "Silence of the Hams" than he was in "Psycho," but he takes his staircase fall ("Again??!!") yet again with grace and humor. Intriguing: this was made by its star, Italian comedian Ezio Greggio, and Martin Balsam died in Italy about a year later. Balsam had appeared in many other Italian-made films. Was this film made in Italy? -
Coventry19 July 2006The only thing you can do whilst watching (no STRUGGLING yourself through) "Silence of the Hams" is (re-) realizing how brilliant and sophisticated movies like "Airplane", "Hot Shots" and "The Naked Gun" in fact are. Now those movies are funny and witty parodies, whereas this rubbish is simply a spitfire of unbelievable lame jokes and painfully retarded references towards great horror classics. I can't even believe that I watched the whole thing, as five minutes into the movie already makes damn clear that it's not going to get any better. There's not one, even remotely, funny line in Ezzio Greggio's script and I honestly wonder how on earth he managed to mobilize people to join his stupid little project. It's a good thing that he appeared in the movie himself; otherwise I would have assumed that an anonymous army of illiterate monkeys made up the whole thing. There're basically just two types of "gags" in this movie: literal interpretations (or misinterpretations) of the stuff characters are saying ("I can take the bus right outside my apartment!" And, oh yes, the bus stops in the hallway...ha ha ha) or completely over-the-top imitations of classic sequences. The type of imaginations small children would make if they were watching a movie they're too young to understand. Greggio mainly focuses on "Silence of the Lambs" and "Psycho", but several poor other classics are undeservedly downgraded. The funniest thing about "Silence of the Hams" is Billy Zane's character name (Joe Dee Foster) and honestly every other joke falls flat. The worst thing is that Greggio doesn't even seem to care about this and mindlessly continues bringing more crap. The last ten minutes, I came really close to stabbing my eyes out with whatever sharp object that was near to me. It's utterly incomprehensible that acclaimed stars like Mel Brooks ("Young Frankenstein") and John Astin ("The Addams Family") agreed to make a guest appearance. They must know that this crap is inferior to their own work, or maybe that's just why they accepted it. Avoid this like you'd avoid going to the dentist.
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Aaron137523 April 2003This movies cover leads you to believe that it is a spoof of Silence of the Lambs, but the movie itself is more of a spoof of Psycho. It has a few good jokes here and there, but for the most part it is the same old gags. That is the case with most spoofs though, dumb joke after dumb joke with a gem scattered here and there. Dom Deleuise plays the Hannibal type character and that is one of the mistakes of the movie. This may be a spoof, but you still need someone with a Hopkins like demeanor. The guy who did Hannibal in "Loaded Weapon 1" was much better. Billy Zane is okay in his role as Joe Dee Foster and there are some others who do all right as well. Though it seems that every spoof has to have a cameo by someone who isn't and never has been a real star. Usually, it is Hulk Hogan or Dr. Joyce Brothers...in this one it is Rip Taylor and Bubba Smith. Is there some rule that says you have to have a cameo from one of these people if you are making a spoof? Though I thought the one scene with John Astin running up behind Billy in the bowling alley was funny...I don't know why.
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ebrown21126 October 2004The summary says it all. With a cast of has-beens (Charlene Tilton? Stuart Pankin? Phyllis Diller? Rip Taylor? Larry Storch?) and people who should have known better (Billy Zane, Dom Irrera, and directors Mel Brooks, Joe Dante, John Carpenter, and John Landis), there isn't a single laugh in the entire movie, which contains some of the lamest, most revolting sight gags ever filmed. It's all well and good to spoof popular films like "Psycho" and "The Silence of the Lambs," but you have to at least attempt to make it a FUNNY spoof rather than simply referencing the film. Instead, Mr. Greggio names his hero Jo Dee Fostar and his villains Antonio Motel and Animal Cannibal Pizza. The "Psycho" scene, with Martin Balsam as Det. Martin Balsam (another indescribably unfunny reference) was bizarre and moronic. Did anyone seriously think this remotely resembled humor? Avoid this piece of garbage at all costs, lest you fancy being scarred for life.
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This is the worst spoof, no worst film I have ever seen. Now I can enjoy a spoof as much as the next man, Airplane, Top Secret, Spaceballs Hot Shots & Blazing Saddles rank up as some of my favourite films. But this, this! This piece is garbage is not a spoof, well okay maybe it is meant to be but it's just totally un-funny! All the gags can be seen coming down the motorway towards you from a thousand miles away! None of the jokes even raised a smirk. Please, your lifetime is too short to waste it watching this movie. In fact don't even read this review stop now! In fact I'm wasting my own time reviewing this when I could reviewing good films! AGHHHH, I'm outta here!!!!!!!
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planktonrules19 September 2018I have been corresponding with a nice young man in Italy who is obsessed with bad films. He suggested I see this movie...so I can only assume it's awful. While it is pretty bad, I was not convinced the movie was 100% awful...just about 94%....not that is a glowing endorsement of this bad film. The acting is bad, the writing is bad and the film is just....well...bad.
Despite the title, "The Silence of the Hams", this movie is NOT a parody of "The Silence of the Lambs" but instead makes fun of many films. It especially focuses on "Psycho"...so the title is confusing.
The director of this terrible picture, oddly, is also the narrator and one of the main characters. I say oddly not because he's in the film so much (heck, Mel Brooks, for example, does the same) but because his accent is so heavy and his acting so bad. I can only assume he did it because of ego or perhaps no one with talent was willing to do the part or perhaps they ran out of money and it was a cost savings measure.
The film has no real plot to speak of. Instead, it's a lightning fast parody of a wide variety of thriller films and is similar in style to brainless films like "Disaster Movie" and "Epic Movie". However, while the style is similar there is one difference....a few of the jokes in "Silence of the Hams" actually made me chuckle whereas none of the jokes in these other two movies ever made me crack a smile! Now again, I am NOT saying "Silence of the Hams" is good....almost all the jokes fail miserably, they are often crude and brainless and the movie is a chore to finish. But, as it occasionally doesn't completely suck, I'm giving it a well earned 2 and can understand how it narrowly missed being on IMDB's infamous Bottom 100 list. -
Enchorde29 May 2004It is an true art form to make a good parody, an art form that Mel Brooks perfected. And even if Mel Brooks has a brief cameo, it is Ezio Greggio that is the mastermind of this one. And though he don't reach the heights of Brooks, he and the rest of the cast and crew delivers a good parody. The base for the parody is Silence of the Lambs and Psycho, but some other movies get spoofed along the way.
In a movie as this it is the jokes that is the essence of it all. One can't really talk of a coherent plot nor is the cast performance the major part. Note however that the performance is not bad, but it is more fun to try to recognize each actor/actress instead, as it is used in some jokes. Now, the joke part, I think that the major part of the jokes and spoofs was very funny. Some didn't work, and some too predictable to produce much laughter. However, all in all, the jokes were good and well worth the time spent watching the movie.
7/10 -
tacha_ts2 June 2006This is one of the worst movie that I have seen, I was not able nor my friends to finish the movie some 30 or 45 minutes in the movie we pressed on stop and took back the tape to the video-rental and asked for a refund.
I am sure some movies are worst then this.
It is simply boring and stupid, not really funny.
There is not much more to say but the system is asking for 10 lines. How could I say more about a really boring dumb movie like this one! Possible by repeating my self as to how boring and stupid this one is.
The main character is taking many rolls, he never funny really, he tries very hard I guess. He not even subtle about take different rolls and its too much obvious to the point that it losses the funniness bout him take most of the rolls. The movie could have been good if better planed, but it just not worth the rental. -
Serenis17 January 2001This is possibly the best parody I've ever seen. I admit it's somewhat childish at times, but parodies shouldn't be serious.
This movie is full of details for which you have to see it many times to discover.
Before you see this movie, I recommend that you see Psycho and Silence of the lambs. -
doc_desire19 August 2000This parody of several movies packs some amusing moments, such as Billy Zane flipping open his wallet to reveal a waffle and saying, "FBI have an appointment", and a humourous turn by Dom Deluise as a cannibal, which overall make this movie a decent turn worth a look. How long a look will depend on how much you enjoy slapstick comedy and one-liners. There are times it drags, and some of the jokes are corny, but overall the funny moments outweigh the not funny ones, so give this one a look if you're in the mood for a light laugh.
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JustSayShemp1 September 2001IMDB should add negative numbers to the voting scale, and this movie is proof of that. A 0 is generous, and I feel guilty having given it a 1.
Rip Taylor has a starring role! The main character is Joe D. Foster, and it says it on his sweatshirt in case you're slow and didn't get the lame joke!
I could go on and on about how this movie just sucks. Rip Taylor should be enough for anyone, though. -
Agony1 December 1998Yes, this movie is like Naked Gun and Airplane. It was a good movie, not great good. If you like just plain silly, laugh a minute (or in this movie, like every second line. I don' think there was a serious part in the movie) than give this one a shot. Not a masterpiece of the genre, but just for fun
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blumdeluxe10 June 2019"Il silenzio dei prosciutti" is mocking "The Silence of the Lambs", imitating basic plot elements and mixing in some other genre classics.
The film is a firework of slapstick gags, Some hit, most miss and all in all this creates an unwatchable mess. There are undoubtedly elements in those film classics that can be absolutely rightfully made fun of but the major reason this film exists is that there was no possibility to make a twenty minute online video back in the days. I can imagine that some viewers will actually have great fun however I'm unfortunately not one of them.
All in all you have to have low standards when it comes to humor and plot if you really want to enjoy this. I respect some of the humor but then again it's not so hard to have some nice ones under dozens. -
Shadow-9624 July 1999I saw this with a group of friends hoping that it would be a parody of a great movie, when in fact it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. There was only one funny scene in it, the one about the silence of hams. I still laugh when I listen to that sound clip. This movie was worth seeing, but only because I didn't pay for it. I wouldn't pay more than five cents to see this movie.
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mark.waltz17 September 2021Yes, this film is as stupid as it sounds, a combination of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Psycho" with a series of "Airplane!" /"Naked Gun" like gags that mostly bomb yet a few that had me laughing hysterically. Every comic still living or at least available appears in this, as well as some of the most familiar personalities who were stalwarts of late night talk shows. Billy Zane follows up his "Titanic" villain role by playing a zany FBI agent out to find out who the "Psycho" killer is with the help of Hannibal Lechter ripoff Dom DeLuise, once again completely unfunny. Phyllis Diller takes a ton of abuse as an over caffeinated secretary and John Astin gets Addams Family snaps every time he appears.
Then there's Shelley Winters as Norman Bates' (or Antonio or whatever his name is) mother, Rip Taylor as a businessman whom sexpot Charlene Tilton absconds money from, Nedra Voltz as a wacky senior, Larry Storch as another abused character and Martin Balsam actually repeating his "Psycho" role. It gets so convoluted and often extremely irritating that half an hour in, I was completely annoyed but couldn't dare to turn it off. I guess like some of the characters I too enjoy torture. I didn't completely hate it, but I am passing it along with the warning to friends that this film may cause the viewer eternal stupidity. -
hwg1957-102-26570413 February 2018A spoof of 'Silence Of The Lambs' and 'Psycho' mainly with other film references thrown into the mix "Silence of The Hams'' is generally not that funny and any fan of the parody genre could write the feeble script in their sleep. The jokes pile up but never amount to anything decent. The cast, and it's a talented cast, do their best with the material but even at only 81 minutes it is a chore to sit through. One felt sorry for the actors.
Martin Balsam reprising a similar role from 'Psycho' utters the line,"I feel like I've done this before." The whole film felt like that. -
gridoon202415 January 2017"Who is Ezio Greggio and how does he know all those terrible things about me?" That's what the famous names who agreed to appear in this movie must have thought - how else can you explain their appearances? (the lowest point must be Martin Balsam trashing the memories of his own role in "Psycho"). It's probably the worst of all the 1990s "Naked Gun"-type spoofs. Greggio has certainly seen a lot of movies in his life, that much is clear; that doesn't mean he has anything funny to say about them, however. The gags are nearly all unoriginal and derivative. Billy Zane give it his best shot but he is clearly uncomfortable in the Leslie Nielsen role; Dom De Luise's funny moments are all in the trailer; Joanna Pacula and Charlene Tilton are the only possible reasons to see the film, but they are not reasons enough. * out of 4.
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AK-1618 November 2006As bad as this film may be at least it's not a Wayans travesty. The movie seems to have its own rhythm where you think it's the worst thing ever made and then one line, or cameo, will redeem it and you're pulled back in. The summary line of this review is an example.
Yes, 'the lady in blue' line is incredibly lame and the visual gags, such as the orchestra playing the score, are clichéd but the film has a reckless charm and Dom DeLuise can't help but be great in anything he does.
I'd recommend this to no one in particular. Perhaps, if like me, you were ill in bed and the remote control was out of reach and you were too weak to call for help then watch this film. -
aesgaard4112 December 2000This movie runs too close to the vein of "Repossessed" inasmuch as the bad jokes nearly out number the good ones. Some of them are stolen from Benny Hill,Airplane and the Naked Guns while the rest of the movie relies heavily on prop jokes and sight gags. The only semi-appealing trait of the movie is how it is filled with numerous recognizable faces such as Lana Scwab from "Repossessed," John Landis, Bubba Smith, Nedra Volz, Peter DeLuise and Wilhelm Von Homburg,Vigo from "Ghostbusters 2." There's also some dead-on lookalikes for George Bush and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, Billy Zane is trying to be too much like Frank Drebin, even stealing his parking style of running into things, while walking around doing his role in a dull trance and jumping into his emotions. He does provide some comic relief as he shows he's more interested in the money than his girlfriend. She's played by Charlene Tilton in an unflattering hair-do and heavy make-up. She also seems to be allowing her figure to do her acting for her. In one of his last roles, Martin Balsam replays his famous scenes from "Psycho." He says,"I feel as if I've been here before." We all have. Larry Storch is stuck doing his old "F-Troop" slapstick as a big-mouth FBI klutz and Stuart Pankin is his haplessly unlucky superior. John Astin plays the "Psycho" sheriff as if he was really Gomez (don't forget to snap your fingers) and Dom DeLuise tries his hand at Hannibal Lecter becoming one of the few really funny characters in the movie as he creates some wierdly disorienting illusions. He does flub a line as he says "I'm off into the arms of Orpheus." I'm sure he meant the god of dreams, Morpheus, not the Thracian musician-prince. Also in the movie is Joanna Pacula,who's not attractive enough to be sexy, and Phyllis Diller as an annoyingly senile old bat pushing her coffee. Rip Taylor is her and Tilton's boss whose name has gone from Hardy to Laurel. One of the trully funny characters is Ezio Greggio, but he has no idea of what works and what doesn't as it seems as if he has thrown together a lot of different jokes. Some of the scenes work very well, but the last scene with the masks is embarrassing for the actors, Tilton even takes a moment to admit it. It brings down the entire movie and pretty much ruins what was already a dying parody.Still, I do like this movie enough to recommend it, but I don't think anyone has the mind to really like this movie.
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KevinB1230 October 2010I think this movie should be playing all over the world to make this movie have a huge profit. Nevertheless, this movie was released in the United Kingdom and not worldwide. This movie cost 3 million dollars and this should be played all over the world to make more than 3 million dollars. Perhaops this movie should be re-released back into theatres to make this funny movie profitable. Perhaps it should gross more than 100 million dollars worldwide because the world should see this movie more often for this to be possible. Billy "William" Zane is a very funny man when he shouts "Detctive Balsam" loudly which had someone pour a bucket of water on him after he finishes shouting.
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musician7621 April 2000I rented this movie hearing that it was really funny. And it was. It was like airplane, full of stupid comedy. Which is what i enjoy watching. My favorite line in the whole play is when Dom Deluise is asking JO DEE Foster about the ham. Another great part is Martin Balsam when he makes his way into old house just like he did in Psycho. Then he says as he opens the door 'I think i've done this before.' Hilarious, its kind of like Mel Brooks 'High Anxiety.' Only better. GO and rent it.
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HotToastyRag26 September 2022As you can tell from the title and the promotional poster, The Silence of the Hams is a big spoof on The Silence of the Lambs. The lead character is special agent Jo Dee Fostar (played by Billy Zane), who starts his day with an intense workout. He's called upon to crack a murder case and seeks advice from serial killer Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza (played by Dom DeLuise). There's also quite a bit of spoofing on Psycho: an icy blonde (played by Charlene Tilton) embezzles money from her employer and stops off at a creepy motel, then gets attacked in the shower.
Parts of the movie are very funny, but other parts go a little too far. Let's face it, many spoofs miss the mark and only make the screenwriter laugh. This movie focuses quite a bit on over-the-top sexual humor, so if you like your movies to be a little on the cleaner side, you'll probably find this in poor taste. Some of the jokes will please everyone, like the infamous stabbing scene. Instead of getting hacked to bits, Charlene continually dodges the knife and eventually giggles when it tickles the bottom of her foot. Some jokes, like an explicit gas pumping scene, might make audience members uncomfortable. For me, the cutest part was Martin Balsam, who played Detective Martin Balsam. He recreated the role he had in Psycho, and seeing him in similar scenes (like taking a look at the registration book) was very amusing. In fact, during the famous scene as he ascends the stairs, he looked at the camera and lamented, "Not again."
With familiar faces like John Astin, Shelley Winters, Stuart Pankin, Henry Silva, and Phyllis Diller, this Ezio Greggio comedy entertained me for the evening. I watched it with my parents, so some moments were a little awkward, but I did laugh more times than I could count. And I really liked seeing Martin Balsam have fun with one of his most famous roles in his career.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to sexual humor, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.