Le silence des jambons

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.

It 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

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.

Silence Of The Hams was brilliant. You know, I hate it when people try to analyze the movie, and try to pick out all the politically incorrect phrases and actions. SHUT... UP !!! And some people are saying "Uhh, it's not as good as Loaded Weapon 1". SO... WHAT !!! Does that mean that I have to like it less now ? Umm... No. This movie had so many clever and stupid jokes in it. It parodied several hit movies and I think this movie deserves more credit than it's getting. I mean, come on, how many movies do you know have a migit with an extendable arm, and Pavaroti ? Hmm ? Rent this movie now. I give this movie a 10 !!!

This 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.