Before I found out who Jim Carrey was, Jim Varney was one of the funniest guys on TV. Every weekend I saw a movie titled under his comedic moniker, Ernest. However, there is one film that stood out from all the rest and that is Ernest Scared Stupid. Released in October 1991, it is about a foolish man and his dog Rimshot, fighting to save the town from a troll that hunts children. The image of that monster will NEVER escape my thoughts. He’s ugly as shit!

Ernest had tremendous range in his facial expressions and voice imitations. Granted some of these accents may be considered politically incorrect in modern day, but hilarious for the time it was released. It’s still funny to me goddammit. Some of the jokes have not aged well, probably because I’m a grown ass man and it is a kid friendly film. 90s humor had a certain charm. Trust me when I say you won’t stop humming the score.

The special effects and makeup in this movie were top notch. Period. When the camera closed in on the troll, I saw all the snot, boils, horns, and wrinkles. It’s a throwback to when storytelling had a moral lesson under all the shenanigans and fart jokes. This one is about family at its core. Also, there were quite a few genuinely terrifying scenes that made me gasp. Ernest Scared Stupid is perfect for the spooky season and gets a 5.5 out of 10.