Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

I love this movie so much

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Moronic garbageman Ernest (Jim Varney) inadvertently frees a troll from a centuries-long imprisonment beneath a tree. Well, it's an Ernest movie so keep expectations simple. It is funny in spots and completely earnest (no pun intended). It's something children should enjoy more than adults. There's lot of slapstick humor and face mugging. Jim Varney repeats many of the same gags that he uses in most of his movies. Eartha Kitt is fun. The troll looks pretty cool. I gotta admit I laughed when Ernest called the troll 'booger lips.' So there's some laughs to be had if you still have some kid left inside. Gets better as it goes along.

Ernest movies usually get bad reviews and ratings. I think that is because they are pretty sophomoric and low level for a lot of viewers. I find them to be relaxing and a movie I can watch without locking in on the plot. Just a good funny movie without a lot of fanfare. Jim Varney plays Ernest P. Worrell, a know it all with no concept of reality or responsibility. He is just a good ole boy with out a lot of smarts or knowledge. In this one Ernest must combat an evil creature that he has unknowingly released from its imprisonment. Eartha Kitt is excellent as the seeress (?) with the information that is needed. It turns out that the creature, who has captured several kids and turned them into wooden little replicates. Ernest finally figures out the riddle and tosses milk on the evil one. It shrinks down to nothing and all the people it had turned into little wooden dolls are restored to life.

"Boy, I sure hope you're from Keebler". That line had me cracking up every time. I have to say: Trantor was and still is the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I remember this movie fondly as a kid and as an adult I still appreciate Varney's clean brand of humor. The moral: "Unconditional love is the strongest weapon of them all." Phineas Worrell managed to bury Trantor, having the roots of a tree be its prison but before they bury him in dirt, he curses the Worrell blood line by having them get dumber and dumber. Enter Ernest P. Worrell, not very bright but full of heart. When the bullies tear down the kids' playhouse, Ernest helps them find a tree so they can have the 'high ground'. Unfortunately, he goes and picks the one tree that has the imprisoned troll, Trantor. Old Lady Hackmore(Kitt) finds out and flees from the place and Ernest goes after her. Having returned, Ernest explains to the children about what Lady Hackmore has told him about the curse. Being Ernest, he says the one thing he shouldn't have: "Yay, I call thee forth Trantor" and knocks on the tree 3 times, thus releasing the evil troll. After being released, he starts going after the children to turn them into wooden dolls to 'feed' his army of trolls that begin sprouting from the tree. But only a Worrell can stop him. Lady Hackmore shows Ernest a book that tells him how he can rid the town of this troll. "Thoust can destroyeth a troll with MI_K". The only thing Ernest can think of is MIAK, which we know doesn't work. Kenny finds out that it is actually milk that can destroy the trolls. And how clever, the brand of milk used is Purity, the brand Ernest hawked in his commercials. Ernest becomes angry after Trantor turns Rimshot into a wooden doll and vows to kill Trantor. After arriving, the pods started to drop and many more trolls started 'hatching'. When the kids arrive, they begin shooting these trolls with milk from toy guns. Eventually, Trantor is left but he managed to summon the demons to make him stronger and therefore, milk would not kill him. Thankfully, Ernest figures out that unconditional love would be the only thing to kill Trantor. He goes from angry to happy in the blink of an eye. He tells the troll, "Aw, you're so cute" and kisses old Booger Lips with all the love in the world, which makes Ernest pull an 'Ewwwww' and I had to pull an 'Ewww' myself. That loving little smooch ended up destroying the troll and all the kids and Rimshot turned back to normal. This is a great Halloween movie for the whole family to enjoy. It's good, wholesome fun. No foul language and no innuendos. The trolls are scary but not enough to scar a child for life. They'll have plenty of time for that if they watch the movies Hollywood is putting out today.

As a child, I was scared of this movie because of the troll, Trantor looked scary. Now, I love it because it has Ernest, has a great storyline, and it takes place on Halloween, and I personally love Halloween!!! Ernest helps Kenny, Joey, and Elizabeth build a tree house. However, the troll is buried under the tree and Ernest accidentally wakes him up. Throughout the movie, Ernest tries to defeat Trantor with 'Troll fighting technology' and miss Hackmore. Ernest finally figures out how to kill the troll. Trantor needs five children to awaken his troll children army. Kenny and his friends go to the grocery store and buy the supplies in order to kill Trantor. Ernest and Kenny fight the trolls at the tree house with all the townspeople there. When all the trolls die, Trantor asks the evil demons of the tree to make him stronger. If you love Halloween and Ernest, you'll love ERNEST SCARED STUPID!!!