History Film / ErnestScaredStupid

* AdultsAreUseless: Except for Old Lady Hackmore; Ernest at least tries to be useful, [[spoiler: and ultimately, he is in the end]].
** Though to be fair, telling [[TheDitz Ernest]] [[spoiler:the exact detailed steps required to free Trantor]] qualifies her for the IdiotBall.
*** Played straight with the rest of the adults, even when they learned of the troll's existence.

* AssholeVictim: Non-fatal example (it is a kid's movie, after all): [[spoiler: One of the Murdock brothers gets turned into the last doll Trantor needs to revive his fellow trolls.]]
* BedmateReveal: [[spoiler: After checking under the bed and being relieved that nothing's hiding under there, Elizabeth finds Trantor laying in bed next to her.]]
* BigBad: Trantor.
* BrokenAesop: Using unconditional love as a weapon...yeah...
* TheBully: The Murdocks.
* CarFu: Ernest tries to stop Trantor by hitting him with his truck. [[spoiler: [[NoSell It doesn't work.]]]]
* CareBearStare: [[spoiler: Ernest is able to defeat Trantor using unconditional love.]]

* TheChick: Elizabeth.
* ChildEater: Trantor

-->"He never knew when to quit." ''([[DopeSlap smack]])''
* EvilDetectingDog: Rimshot.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Trantor.

--> Kenny: You're a great bunch of guys.
* HalloweenSpecial
* HamToHamCombat: Ernest vs Hackmore gives us a good dose of this.

-->Ernest: Of course! Authentic Bulgarian MIAK!

-->Ernest: (as the doll) No, no, don't stick my head in those gears!
-->Ernest: (as himself) But it's either me or you.
-->Ernest: (as the doll) But I have a family in a doll house.
-->Ernest: (as himself - {{Beat}}) I'll send them a nice photo.
-->Ernest: (as the doll) You can't get away with this, Ernest, I know where you live!

* ItsPersonal: Even though he has his own goal of reviving the other trolls by sacrificing five kids, Trantor also wants to kill Ernest and avenge himself against the Worrell family for imprisoning him. [[spoiler: Then he turns Rimshot into a wooden doll and Ernest in turn gets '''''pissed'''''.]]
* KickTheDog: Trantor [[spoiler: turning Rimshot into a wooden statue]].
* KnightOfCerebus: Trantor

* MadeOfIron: Trantor. [[spoiler: He was able to shrug off being HIT BY A TRUCK. And sandwiched between said truck and a tree.]]
* MagicalSeventhSon: Old Lady Hackmore says "you're the seventh son of the seventh son" when listing all the auspices that make Ernest TheChosenOne for fulfilling his ancestor's legacy and defeating Trantor the Troll once and for all. (It's not clear if she's being metaphorical or not, though, especially since she refers to him as ''the'' direct descendant of Phineas Worrell.)

-->"Somebody with a runny nose is gonna die!"

* OneWingedAngel: Once Ernest and the kids bust out the [[spoiler: Milk]] to beat the Trolls, Trantor calls upon demonic magic to gain a more powerful form that can only be beaten by [[spoiler: unconditional love]].

--> Ernest: C'mon fellas, I've been collectin' this stuff for years!

--> '''Ernest''': How 'bout a [[CarFu bumper sandwich]], booger lips?

* [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed Evil in a Tree]]

* TakenForGranite: Trantor turns children [[spoiler: and dogs, it would seem]] into wooden statues.
* TeamPet: Rimshot.
* TooDumbToLive: The Murdock brother [[spoiler: who gets turned into a doll by Trantor]] sees the troll and decides it's smart to insult his "costume."

* TownWithADarkSecret

* TheVoiceless: Bobby, as usual, except for one line: [[spoiler: "Plus tax."]]

In 19th century Briarville, Missouri, Trantor the troll has been on a rampage, turning children into wooden dolls so that he can feast upon their energy. The townspeople, using a little girl as bait, lure the troll into a trap, tie him up in burlap and throw him into a pit. The village elder, Phineas Worrell, [[SealedEvilInACan seals the troll beneath an oak tree]] so that it will never terrorize the children of Briarville again.

Fast-forward to the 1990s, where Phineas Worrell's descendant, Ernest, is a garbageman and friend to the neighborhood children, Kenny, Elizabeth and Joey. The kids are busy working on a haunted house, until it gets destroyed by a couple of bullies. Ernest steps in to help them build a treehouse instead. And of course, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which tree does he decide]] [[IdiotBall would be the best choice]]?

* AdultsAreUseless: Except for Old Lady Hackmore; Ernest at least tries to be useful, [[spoiler: and he is in the end]].
** Though telling [[TheDitz Ernest]] [[spoiler:the exact steps required to free Trantor]] qualifies her for the IdiotBall.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Trantor is an evil troll who goes after children, turning them into little wooden dolls which give him his power, which he uses to try to create more trolls. He also has the ability to mimic the voice of anyone he's turned into a doll. Younger trolls can be killed by milk (mother's care) and older ones be driven off, but for the most powerful trolls, the only thing that can defeat them is [[spoiler:unconditional love (the heart of a child)]].

* CurbStompBattle: The townsfolk are on the receiving end of one by Trantor's minions at the end -- at least, until the children intervene.

* FriendToAllChildren: Ernest.

* HeroesLoveDogs: Ernest
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Trantor cursed the Worrell family to become dumber with each generation, possibly trying to create one dumb enough to free him. By the present, Ernest is basically a ManChild. And it's this child-like innocence that allows him to kill Trantor once and for all.

** Neither one of them were able to guess "Milk' from "M-I-something-K."

* MadeOfIron: Trantor. [[spoiler: He was able to shrug off being HIT BY A TRUCK.]]

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Ernest sees what Trantor did to [[spoiler:Rimshot]]. Probably the angriest Ernest ever got.

* OneWingedAngel: Once Ernest and the kids bust out the [[spoiler: Milk]] to beat the Trolls, Trantor calls upon evil to gain a more powerful form that can only be beaten by [[spoiler: unconditional love]].

----

* KickTheDog: Trantor [[spoiler: turning Rimshot into a wooden statue.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Ernest does exactly what Old Lady Hackmore says ''not'' to do and awakens Trantor. One could argue that Hackmore should be responsible for "breaking" it because she actually [[WhatAnIdiot ''told'']] Ernest how to awaken Trantor, and then expected him not to do it.

* PreAssKickingOneLiner

* ThePackRat: Ernest is all too happy to use his junk to build a tree house for the kids.
--> Ernest: C'mon fellas, I've been collectin' this stuff for years!

* MadeOfIron: Trantor [[spoiler: He was able to shrug off being HIT BY A TRUCK.]]

* HoistbyHisOwnPetard: Trantor cursed the Worrell family to become dumber with each generation, possibly trying to create one dumb enough to free him. By the present, Ernest is basically a ManChild. And it's this child-like innocence that allows him to kill Trantor once and for all.

''Ernest Scared Stupid'' (a.k.a. "Ernest Saves Halloween") is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John R. Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. It's the fourth (technically fifth) film to feature the character ErnestPWorrell.

Fast-forward to the 1990s, where Phineas Worrell's descendant, Ernest, is a garbageman and friend to the neighborhood children, Kenny, Elizabeth and Joey. The kids are busy working on a haunted house, until it gets destroyed by a couple of bullies. Ernest steps in to help them build a treehouse instead. And of course, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which tree does he decide would be the best choice]]?

* HomeMadeInventions: Ernest has an attachment on his garbage truck which dumps wet sponges held by robot hands repeatedly. We don't get to see what it actually does, though. He likely invented the food-launching cannons in the tree-house, and he also built a troll trap using a dumpster.

** Though telling him [[spoiler:the exact steps required to free Trantor]] qualifies her for the IdiotBall.

* IdiotBall: Ernest and Old Lady Hackmore fail to guess "Milk' from "M-I-something-K."
** Also how Trantor gets released in the first place. Ernest never was the brightest bulb in the shed.
** Old Lady Hackmore was firmly clutching it when she told Ernest how to release Trantor and expected him not to do it.

* StockFootage: The opening features clips from old black-and-white movies, including ''TheScreamingSkull'', ''TheGiantGilaMonster'', ''TheKillerShrews'' and ''Film/TheLittleShopOfHorrors''.

* NotNowKiddo: Kenny gets this a lot from his father. And given his child-like nature even Ernest gets this treatment from the other adults.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Trantor is an evil troll who goes after children, turning them into little wooden dolls which give him his power, which he uses to try to create more trolls. He also has the ability to mimic the voice of anyone he's turned into a doll. Younger trolls can be killed by milk (mother's care) and older ones be driven off, but for the most powerful trolls, the only thing that can defeat them is unconditional love (the heart of a child).

* IHaveAFamily: When Earnest imitates a doll voice and wrestles with the dilemma of using a doll to stop the gears of a garbage masher.
-->Earnest: (as the doll) No, no, don't stick my head in those gears!
-->Earnest: (as himself) But it's either me or you.
-->Earnest: (as the doll) But I have a family in a doll house.
-->Earnest: (as himself - {{Beat}}) I'll send them a nice photo.
-->Earnest: (as the doll) You can't get away with this, Earnest, I know where you live!

** Old Lady Hackmore was firmly clutching it when she told Ernest how to release Trantor and expected him not to do it..

* GeniusBonus: If you can manage to stop smirking at Ernest during Ernest's costume-changing pep-talk, you'll realize he's paraphrasing Sun Tsu's Literature/TheArtofWar

GeniusBonus: If you can manage to stop smirking at Ernest during Ernest's costume-changing pep-talk, you'll realize he's paraphrasing Sun Tsu's Literature/TheArtofWar