Synopsis: Ernest accidentally unleashes an ugly troll that plots to transform children into wooden dolls in the town of Briarville, Missouri.

Calamity Brains:

Ernest Scared Stupid is one those movies that plays well with kids, but doesn’t really have a lot to offer adults who aren’t coming at it from a nostalgia angle. I didn’t grow up with Ernest, so the movie is underwhelming for me. Ernest’s hijinks make me wince about as much as they make me laugh, but they’ll likely go over well with a younger crowd.

One of the best things by far about Ernest Scared Stupid is the troll makeup. In this Ernest movie, our erstwhile garbageman “hero” (Jim Varney) and his child friends try to save the town from being overrun by some gleefully disgusting trolls. They are perfect villains for a kid’s horror movie – think Hoggle in the Labyrinth, but much slimier, larger, and grosser. Each troll looks different as well, which adds to the fun. In an otherwise mediocre movie, the quality of the costuming definitely stands out.

Because, as I said, this is a kid’s horror movie, it’s fairly light on plot and explanation, and heavy on slapstick humor. (Ernest also does a ton of impersonations.) But it’s a good way to offer kids a taste of Halloween scares without showing them content they aren’t ready for yet. If you’re watching kids on scary movie night, you could do worse… but you might get a little bored if you have no attachment to Ernest yourself.

Calamity Brains’ Rating: C