‘Ernest Scared Stupid’ Is a Traumatic Rite of Passage
The late Jim Varney made a career out of playing a lovable goof called Ernest. An entire generation grew up renting his movies at the video store. I seem to recall wearing out the tape of several Ernest films in my formative years. Throughout his screen tenure, Ernest saved Christmas, went to camp, got sent to jail, joined the army, went back to school, and more. But horror fans likely know the character best for the time he trifled with a treacherous troll. I’m talking, of course, about Ernest Scared Stupid.
Ernest Scared Stupid follows the titular character as he scrambles to deal with the aftermath of an honest mistake. Actually, that’s probably the setup for about 90% of Ernest films. But never mind that. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. When Ernest helps a couple of neighborhood kids build the treehouse of their dreams, he has no idea that the location he scouted for the structure just so happens to be situated directly above a subterranean chamber that imprisons an ancient troll. When an eccentric local warns Ernest that he’s in danger of unleashing unspeakable evil, he ignores the admonition and unsurprisingly proceeds to free the troll. Classic Ernest.
From there, the film’s central antagonist begins to perpetrate mayhem all over town, attempting to turn five children into wood before Halloween ends. Can Ernest stop the forces of evil and return the order to his Midwestern town before the troll unleashes hell on Earth? You’ll just have to watch and see.
Ernest Scared Stupid is a legendary gateway horror picture.
Ernest Scared Stupid is what I like to call a traumatic rite of passage. It’s one of those films that’s seared into my brain. I suspect anyone who saw it at an impressionable age had a similar reaction. I vividly remember watching Ernest Scared Stupid as a youngster and being properly terrified. This is a picture that features a truly frightening antagonist and some surprisingly dark themes throughout. But the flick never talks down to its audience. The often-harrowing narrative goes to unexpectedly dark places and the end result is all the better for it.
Props to screenwriters Charles Gale and Coke Sams for pushing the envelope and taking risks. I doubt such a sinister effort geared toward children would be greenlit today. And that’s a shame. However, gateway horror efforts like this one still exist and are ripe for discovery by viewers of appropriate age.
Thrills and chills aplenty.
So why is the film so scary? Well, let me break it down for you. If the prospect of a troll turning kids into wooden dolls wasn’t frightening enough, the central antagonist actually succeeds in that chilling pursuit. And I love every minute of it. First-time viewers are lured into a false sense of security. This is an Ernest movie, after all. It’s for kids. The film couldn’t possibly put children in peril, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. In fact, it happens early and often. Less than 30 minutes into the feature, the troll makes a wooden plaything out of an unsuspecting youngster. That shocking development shows the audience that no one is safe in this movie. Not even innocent children.
The troll is terrifying, in part, because of exceptional creature design. It is absolutely on point. In fact, the effects are one of the best aspects of the film. The antagonist is properly hideous-looking, with its wrinkled skin and grotesque features sure to repulse. Its teeth jut out at all angles. Such a being wouldn’t be entirely out of place in an R-rated horror picture. But this is an Ernest movie. And that’s what makes the inclusion of such a repulsive creature a pleasant surprise. People simply weren’t expecting it.
The troll’s habitat is just as frightening as the creature itself. When the troll’s confinement chamber (located under the tree where Ernest and his youthful companions build a treehouse) is disrupted, it very much looks like the fires of hell are burning below. We see glowing orange embers blazing beneath the ground.
Old Lady Hackmore steals the show.
Aside from the troll and its habitat, another properly compelling aspect of the film is Eartha Kitt as Old Lady Hackmore. Though she is primarily there to deliver exposition, Kitt steals the show in the process. The late singer and actress demonstrates real versatility here. She downplays her good looks and speaks in a raspy voice. Her posture is hunched over. If I hadn’t seen her name in the opening credits, I doubt that I would have even recognized the famous crooner beneath her disheveled appearance. She is initially quite spooky, but throughout her arc, Old Lady Hackmore proves that appearances can be deceptive.
Even though the film and some of its characters are surprisingly scary, this is still an Ernest picture at its core. The narrative may be sinister, but the titular character is still the good-natured and lovable goofball who famously saved Christmas and survived summer camp. That’s probably the sole reason director John R. Cherry III got away with the often terrifying tone and some of the more macabre thematic elements.
Spooky aspects aside, the film also features great set design and location scouting. The treehouse is likely to serve as fantasy fulfillment for kids of a certain age. It’s fully loaded and decked out with outrageous features to protect the dwelling from schoolyard bullies. Homemade catapults and various other contraptions make the locale a fun and functional addition to the often spooky narrative.
The final word on Ernest Scared Stupid:
Ernest Scared Stupid is a children’s film that has enough going for it to entertain adults and youngsters alike. If you have rug rats of a certain age, the flick is a great rite of passage. It’s frightening enough to scare and surprise but not so terrifying that it will do irreparable harm.
If you’re game to add Ernest Scared Stupid to your spooky season lineup, you can score the film on physical media or as a digital rental. Sadly, the flick is not streaming anywhere as of the publication of this post.
Categorized:Editorials
