Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

John R. Cherry III

Writers (WGA):

John R. Cherry III (story) &
Coke Sams (story) ...

Release Date:

11 October 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Horror

Plot:

After a misunderstanding, Ernest P. Worrell unleashes an evil troll on Halloween.

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | Troll | Miniaturization | Based On Commercial | Lifting Person In Air

Cast

Jim Varney	...	Ernest
Eartha Kitt	...	Old Lady Hackmore
Austin Nagler	...	Kenny
Shay Astar	...	Elizabeth
Jonas Moscartolo	...	Trantor
John Cadenhead	...	Tom Tulip
Bill Byrge	...	Bobby Tulip
Richard Woolf	...	Matt
Nick Victory	...	Mike
Alec Klapper	...	Joey
Steven Moriyon	...	Gregg
Daniel Butler	...	Cliff
Esther Huston	...	Amanda
Larry Black	...	Mayor Murdock
Denice Hicks	...	Elizabeth's Mother

Also Known As:

Ernest Scared Stiff (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1994) | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Iceland:LH | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Tennessee, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The emblem on the side of the Briarville police car reads "Ignoramus Ad Infinitum".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Trantor scratches the roof of the truck trying to get to Ernest, you can clearly see that it is cloth ripping instead of the metal on the roof.

Quotes:

Old Lady Hackmore: Listen to the last two lines of the troll's poem. There is one who can stop us if he will dare, With the heart of a child and a mother's care. So we need a heart,
[turns to Kenny and Elizabeth]
Old Lady Hackmore: a child's heart!
[laughs]

Movie Connections:

Features The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

More Innocent Than It Is Stupid

This was the first "Ernest" movie, I think, that I watched and I was surprised that it wasn't as stupid as I thought it was or the title convinced me it would be. It really wasn't "stupid" until the last 20 minutes, but a lot of movies get really dumb in the last half hour.

For most of the movie, it was nice, lighthearted fun that - cliché aside - is fun for the "whole family." There is nary a bad one word in this movie and it's old-fashioned slapstick fun and about as innocent as it gets.

Having said that, I realize a lot of people would still consider the movie as a dumb one but I always liked Jim Varney and laughed at the most of the stuff he did, beginning with those famous TV commercials of his.

In the last 30 years, how many comedies do you see without a tons of sex and profanity? Almost none......so give "Ernest" some slack.