The Silence of the Hams

The Silence of the Hams
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEzio Greggio
Written byEzio Greggio
Produced by
Starring
Narrated byEzio Greggio
CinematographyJacques Haitkin
Edited by
  • Robert Barrere
  • Andy Horvitch
Music byParmer Fuller
Production
companies
  • Silvio Berlusconi Productions
  • 30th Century Wolf
Distributed byOctober Films
Release date
  • 11 March 1994 (1994-03-11)
Running time
81 minutes[1]
Countries
  • Italy
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million

The Silence of the Hams (Italian: Il Silenzio dei Prosciutti) is a 1994 comedy thriller film written by, directed by, and starring Italian comedian Ezio Greggio. It is a parody of many popular thriller and horror films, notably The Silence of the Lambs and Psycho. Along with Greggio, it features an ensemble cast of Dom DeLuise, Billy Zane, Joanna Pacuła, Charlene Tilton and Martin Balsam.

Like many of its contemporary satires (including The Naked Gun), it is largely driven by wordplay, sight gags, running jokes,[2] and references to popular culture of the time (such as Michael Jackson's Thriller) and tongue-in-cheek references to then-current American politics (such as a fight scene between Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton). Mel Brooks, who made a number of well regarded parodies (Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs), makes a cameo appearance.

  1. ^ "Silence of the Hams (15)". British Board of Film Classification. March 8, 1996. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference empire was invoked but never defined (see the help page).