YMMV / Ernest Scared Stupid

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Old Lady Hackmore seems to firmly hold the Idiot Ball when she explicitly tells Ernest the incantation to bring Trantor back. However, she later uses the chance to plant the dolls of her sister and friends on Trantor's tree so they can be returned to normal, as they were stuck that way following his original defeat. Was she just taking advantage of this situation following her screw-up, or was she actually The Chessmaster, intentionally allowing Trantor to be revived in a Batman Gambit that Ernest would defeat him in order to save them all along?
• Awesome Music: The main credits theme, which manages to be both spooky and catchy.
• Broken Aesop: "Of course! Showing unconditional love to kill your enemies! That's the ultimate weapon of destruction! Peace and love! What am I missing here?!"
• Complete Monster: Trantor the Troll, an ancient, evil creature out to Take Over the World, seeks to transform five children into small wooden dolls to be sacrificed so as to create an entire army under Trantor's control. After failing to capture a fifth victim and being sealed away decades ago, Trantor eventually escapes his captivity and terrorizes the town of Briarville, kidnapping and turning several children into dolls and subjecting even Ernest's best friend and loyal dog Rimshot to the same fate. After erecting his army, Trantor plans to turn all children of the world into dolls then terrorize the rest of the populace for eternity, and when his plans are thwarted, Trantor spitefully turns Kenny into a doll just to taunt Ernest.
• Funny Moments: The Cutaway Gag in which Ernest's 4th grade teacher confirms that "He never knew when to quit" before whapping young Ernest over the head when he scratches the blackboard with his fingernails.
  • "How 'bout a bumper sandwich, booger-lips?!"
  • When Trantor attacks Ernest while he's driving.
    Trantor: You will pay for the sins of your forefathers!
    Ernest: I didn't have four fathers! I just had one father and I didn't know him that well!
    [Trantor's face falls as though disappointed in not having a Worthy Opponent]
  • Ernest's secret weapon.
    Ernest: Let's see how you like a little MIAK!
    Trantor: [legitimately confused] ...Miak???
    Ernest: Yeah, MIAK! Oh, I bet you thought I'd never find it at this time o' year! Well, I'm a little too resourceful for you, a little too light on my feet! So come on, eat miak and die!
    Trantor: [roars a hurricane wind at Ernest]
• Genius Bonus: If you can manage to stop smirking at Ernest during his costume-changing pep-talk, you'll realize he's paraphrasing Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
• Heartwarming Moments: When Ernest is reunited with Rimshot, after the spell that turned his dog into a wooden statue is broken.
  • Old Lady Hackmore being reunited with her sister and friends.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: An adult bursting into a school's Halloween party to warn the kids that there's a troll on the loose? That sounds like a certain heavily memed scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
• Memetic Mutation: The face Ernest makes at Trantor during their fight (and right after Ernest's "booger lips" line) has become memetic to the point that this movie is (believed to be) the origin of the internet phrase "troll face".
  • "Authentic Bulgarian Miak" is a bit of a shibboleth for the film's fans.
• Moral Event Horizon: Trantor crosses it by turning children into dolls.
• Retroactive Recognition: After dealing with a troll Elizabeth will have no problem dealing with aliens.
• Special Effect Failure: The very revealing stage hand pushing the block of garbage Ernest is trapped in out with a hammer.
  • When Ernest's car jack breaks and goes flying, the car window actually starts breaking before the jack hits the car.
• Strangled by the Red String: Elizabeth randomly kissing Kenny on the cheek as they head on home, even though there were no romantic implications between the two. Except for a throwaway comment by one of the Murdocks at the beginning: "The dork likes her!"
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Very minor example, but the Trantor costume is a lot more impressive than you'd expect for a shoestring-budget comedy. Trantor and the trolls were designed and built by the Chiodo brothers, so you'd expect them to look pretty damn good.
• Tear Jerker: Earnest's forlorn "There's nothing for me in that tree..." as all the children are returned is incredibly sad, and a brief reminder that Jim Varney is an incredibly skilled and gifted performer.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Who would have thought an Ernest movie would have dark elements? From an evil troll targeting kids to Ernest being pissed to the point that he was willing to violently kill Trantor for going after his dog.

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