Review: “Ernest Scared Stupid”
- Scott
- Oct 29, 2012
- 2 min read
In the pantheon of dumb Halloween movies, only one can stand above the rest. I’m not sure what movie that is, but this one has to be close to it.
Ernest is a sanitation worker in a small town. With Halloween coming up, he and a group of his friends, who happen to be children, prepare for attacks from the local bullies. They build a rather comically large tree house in the woods. Unfortunately, they build it in a tree that was planted as a prison for an evil troll. When Ernest mutters a few words, he awakens the troll from its long slumber.
As the troll rises from its prison, he gets back to his old ways. The troll starts kidnapping children and turning them into wooden dolls. Placing these dolls inside of the tree’s stump gives him more power. The only thing standing in its way of taking all the children and destroying the town is Ernest, a dog, and a few random children.
I confess I love the Ernest movies, at least the original few. Besides Pee Wee Herman, Ernest may have been one of the funniest people I saw on television. Watching this movie was like being transported back in time. I forgot more about Scared Stupid, and Ernest in general than I remembered. Every few minutes I found myself saying out loud “Oh damn!”. I don’t think I could really bag on this movie even if I tried.
Sure this movie is stupid (it’s in the title) but it’s still fun. At points it’s self-aware, even calling attention to the fact that Ernest constantly changes costumes and personalities. The way they defeat the trolls is through milk. It’s a kids movie, I guess you can’t expect much more. This trip down memory lane was a lot of fun, and honestly, I look forward to more of them. If you have a kid that is old enough to know that movies are just movies, It’s probably safe to see this one. Though watching it again, it felt like it might be a tiny bit scary, I think it will be ok. Maybe just show them Ernest Goes To Camp first. Oh, and Scared Stupid is on YouTube in its entirety.
Comments