Ernest Scared Stupid

Ernest Scared Stupid is a 1991 American comedy horror film directed by John Cherry and starring Jim Varney. It is the fifth film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, and the fourth film in the Ernest series. In the film, Ernest unwittingly unleashes an evil troll upon a small town on Halloween night and helps the local children fight back. It was shot in Nashville, Tennessee like its predecessors Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Saves Christmas, and Ernest Goes to Jail. Due to its modest gross of $14,143,280 at the U.S. box office, Disney opted not to continue the franchise, making this the fourth and final Ernest film to be released under the Disney label, Touchstone Pictures. The next film in the series, Ernest Rides Again, was independently distributed, was a box office bomb and was the final Ernest film to be released theatrically. Subsequent Ernest films were made for the straight-to-video market.<ref name="AFI"></ref> Its opening credits feature a montage of clips from various horror and science fiction films, including Nosferatu (1922), White Zombie (1932), Phantom from Space (1953), The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), The Screaming Skull (1958), Missile to the Moon (1958), The Hideous Sun Demon (1958), The Giant Gila Monster (1959), The Killer Shrews (1959), Battle Beyond the Sun (1959), and The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). Plot In the late 19th century, the demonic troll Trantor transforms children into wooden dolls to feast upon their energy in Briarville, Missouri. The townsfolk capture him and seal him under an oak tree, with Phineas Worrell, one of the village elders and an ancestor of Ernest P. Worrell, establishing the seal. Trantor vengefully places a curse on the Worrell family, stating that he can only be released on October 30 (Mischief Night), the night before Halloween, by a Worrell. As part of the curse, every generation of Worrells will get "dumber and dumber and dumber", until the dumbest member of the family is foolish enough to release him from his earthly prison.