One of the strangest and scariest children’s horror films of all time is streaming for free

The concept of Ernest may seem foreign to people under a certain age, but to kids of the ’80s and ’90s, he was his own little phenomenon. Nashville-based advertising executive John R. Cherry co-developed the character for a long-running series of commercials, in which he was played by actor Jim Varney. Ernest P. Worrell might be best described as a highly expressive blue-collar caricature who often presented himself as a child trapped in the body of an adult improv comedian. His wardrobe always stuck to the gray short-sleeve, crew-neck t-shirt, blue jeans, denim utility vest, and a special khaki baseball cap. While Ernest’s popularity led to an Emmy-winning TV series (“Hey Vern, It’s Ernest”), the brand mascot’s real rise among the general public happened when Cherry and Varney decided to develop a whole bunch of movies around their chaotic spokesperson.

Only five of Ernest’s nine films have been released theatrically, with the first four distributed by Disney under their Touchstone Pictures label. The last of these was “Ernest Scared Stupid,” a deeply strange children’s horror comedy that could only have been made in 1991. You don’t even need to have seen the other films if you haven’t already, because each one resets Ernest in a different location with a new occupation, but with the same savvy inventor mindset. The Halloween oddity, which is now streaming for free on YouTube, sees the bumbling jester working as a local sanitation worker at the behest of a centuries-old curse that has made the Worrell lineage increasingly ridiculous over the years. After accidentally awakening the previously buried Trantor the Troll (Jonas Moscartolo), Ernest seeks to correct his mistake before the town of Briarville is transformed into Troll Central.

If the idea of ​​Varney making a whole bunch of silly faces at public domain horror movie clips in the opening credits sounds appealing to you, then I have the Halloween treat for you.

The major studios’ output of children’s films has been downright pitiful these days, often leading to unimaginative remakes of “Lilo & Stitch” and “How to Train Your Dragon” becoming box office hits because there’s nothing else to counter them. Although scripted by two adults (Charles Gale and Coke Sams), “Ernest Scared Stupid” feels like it was written by children, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. It features useless adults, a treehouse fortress with built-in pizza catapults, and cheesy schoolyard lines like “How about a bumper sandwich, Boogerlips?”

There are extended sequences throughout “Ernest Scared Stupid” where Varney goes through a series of different costumed characters in a single conversation and the people on the other side never comment on it. Its surreal, wide-angle assault has the potential to become grating, but I find its bizarre physical comedy rather endearing. The elasticity of Varney’s face alone makes it look like a Picasso painting has come to life.

For all its kid-friendly humor, there are a whole bunch of gags that made me laugh out loud, like Eartha Kitt using a human-sized can opener to get Ernest out of a barrel. Then there are things like Ernest leading a group of unsupervised children through an entrance into a haunted forest that looks like something Bonnie Aaron’s dumpster demon from “Mulholland Drive” would come out of. It’s also the kind of gag that prepares young viewers for some really good scares to come.

The most surprising aspect of “Ernest Scared Stupid” is how well it works as a horror film for kids. Trantor the Troll could easily be a caricature character, but he presents a legitimate threat. Part of his plan involves stealing the souls of children in order to resurrect his troll army. The only thing left of the Briarville children are wooden figurines that poignantly capture them in their frozen state of terror. Not to mention, Trantor was brought to life by the Chiodo Brothers, otherwise known as the special effects duo behind 1988’s “Killer Klowns From Outer Space.” It’s slimy, funny, scary and, above all, practical.

Cherry also manages to conjure up some surprising moments of suspense. Take the moment when young Elizabeth (Shay Astar) is petrified by the idea of ​​a monster under her bed, so she slowly reaches out to pull up the sheets. I won’t dare spoil the sequel, but rest assured, it’s a scare that proves kids can handle a good scare, even if Cherry thought that was why it underperformed at the box office compared to Ernest’s previous films.

Seeing this early ’90s oddity on a 35mm print during Coolidge Corner’s After Midnite program was like unearthing a time capsule whose contents were so confusing that they only made us laugh harder. Ultimately, “Ernest Scared Stupid” is about a resourceful clown who accidentally unleashes an evil being upon the world, but it is predicted in an ancient book that he is destined to end his reign of terror. It’s “Army of Darkness” for kids!

“Ernest Scared Stupid” is currently streaming for free on YouTube.