Oddly, Ernest Scared Stupid (or Part IV) was the movie in 1991 that made me stop watching Ernest movies and I was a huge Ernest fan. Today, October 2, 2013, watching it for the first time since that one viewing in the theatre in 1991, I actually appreciated it.
Yes. It was silly beyond belief, and the opening credits filled with Ernest acting all-scared juxtaposed with old Bmovies that were probably featured on Elvira: Mistress of the Dark or Mystery Science Theater 3000 or both, should tell you immediately what you're in for. Since I wanted to give this, and Ernest films, another shot during the correct month – October – I continued. And, I was glad I did.
There were actually a lot of funny moments and lines from Ernest. Despite being strictly a children's "scary" comedy, he had some genuinely hilarious lines. Again, the movie got more and more silly and the finale, though it worked, contained the goofiest scenes of the entire movie.
The movie begins with the background story of a troll over a hundred years prior that stole children and turned them into wooden figures for his powers and the townsfolk trap the creature and bury him. Never seems to occur to them to chop up or kill the troll before burying it alive, but then again, this is a children's PG movie.
Fast forward to present (1991) day, it is said the descendants of the person who doomed the troll, would get stupider and stupider and, well, we have Ernest, the garbage man in the same town. He's friends with the kids, as he always is, and he helps them make a tree house in the same tree that sits over the buried troll from ages past. Ernest does wake the troll, who wastes no time to collect more children and create an army of evil trolls.
Ernest doesn't sleep, stop or cease being silly to bring to an end to the troll and protect the town. The kids help, as does the fantastic little dog of Ernest's, Rimshot, who reminded me of the Wallace & Gromit animation series. Though, the dog has a suspiciously odd name for kid's movie
Overall, it's a fun movie and, of course, never to be taken seriously. I did find myself laughing out loud because (RIP, God bless his soul) Jim Varney was a great comedian despite his lowbrow character with a vest.
* * * Final thoughts: "Remember, if anyone of us gets separated, there's an old pioneer way of finding north. The bark always grows on the outside of the tree." – Ernest P. Worrell. God, I love Ernest.
Yes. It was silly beyond belief, and the opening credits filled with Ernest acting all-scared juxtaposed with old Bmovies that were probably featured on Elvira: Mistress of the Dark or Mystery Science Theater 3000 or both, should tell you immediately what you're in for. Since I wanted to give this, and Ernest films, another shot during the correct month – October – I continued. And, I was glad I did.
There were actually a lot of funny moments and lines from Ernest. Despite being strictly a children's "scary" comedy, he had some genuinely hilarious lines. Again, the movie got more and more silly and the finale, though it worked, contained the goofiest scenes of the entire movie.
The movie begins with the background story of a troll over a hundred years prior that stole children and turned them into wooden figures for his powers and the townsfolk trap the creature and bury him. Never seems to occur to them to chop up or kill the troll before burying it alive, but then again, this is a children's PG movie.
Fast forward to present (1991) day, it is said the descendants of the person who doomed the troll, would get stupider and stupider and, well, we have Ernest, the garbage man in the same town. He's friends with the kids, as he always is, and he helps them make a tree house in the same tree that sits over the buried troll from ages past. Ernest does wake the troll, who wastes no time to collect more children and create an army of evil trolls.
Ernest doesn't sleep, stop or cease being silly to bring to an end to the troll and protect the town. The kids help, as does the fantastic little dog of Ernest's, Rimshot, who reminded me of the Wallace & Gromit animation series. Though, the dog has a suspiciously odd name for kid's movie
Overall, it's a fun movie and, of course, never to be taken seriously. I did find myself laughing out loud because (RIP, God bless his soul) Jim Varney was a great comedian despite his lowbrow character with a vest.
* * * Final thoughts: "Remember, if anyone of us gets separated, there's an old pioneer way of finding north. The bark always grows on the outside of the tree." – Ernest P. Worrell. God, I love Ernest.