Hey Vern! Guess what? Ernest is on DVD again! And this time Mill Creek Entertainment is bringing us the follow up to their release of “Hey Vern!” and it’s a triple feature of three of the most questionable Ernest films ever made. Sure, to the American public they may not be classics, but to those of us who grew up with the lovable Ernest whose intentions were at least admirable, you can’t help but feel a considerable fondness and soft hearted approach toward three movies that vary vastly in style and tone. “Ernest Goes to Jail” is a definite Ernest outing that dabbles on the verge of adult humor and is much too surreal and dark for kids to actually enjoy. But on the upside there is “Ernest Scared Stupid!” a definite kids film in which Ernest must fight tree trolls with Miak that’s kind of spooky but intended as a Halloween film with some good hearted humor and Ernest’s usual sense of attire that varies from the “wacky” to the “what the hell?”
And of course there is the weaker of the three films “Ernest Goes to Camp,” yet another in a line of fish out of water camp films that seemed to permeate the cinemas back in the eighties and nineties. I’m still not sure where the fascination with summer camp came from. I blame Jason Voorhees. Nevertheless it’s sad that the best Ernest film “Ernest Saves Christmas” couldn’t have been included on this set instead of “Camp.” But then there’s always the weak link, isn’t there? For fans of Ernest, Mill Creek offers the original films in their untouched glory clocking in at over four hours, and they’re a considerable mixed bag. 1991’s “Ernest Scared Stupid!” is a consistent childhood favorite and one I naturally turned to first when going along with Ernest for the ride that included confused glares and assorted chuckles.
Though immensely flawed, this Halloween kids film involves Ernest as a reluctant hero who holds the key to the town’s fate when an ancient cave troll is released from his sleeping ground. Free to roam the world, it begins wandering around the neighborhoods turning children in to wooden dolls and hiding them in his tree where he plans to unleash his troll army. If Ernest and his prepubescent friends don’t act soon, Halloween will be the apocalypse. Armed with Eartha Kitt and milk, they take on the monsters in assorted comedic ways that are still damn funny. Thumb your nose down on this title all you want, but it’s hilarious and a ride I can go on with a shit eating grin and some memories. 1990’s “Ernest Goes to Jail” is the darker of the trilogy of films where Ernest is pretty much a Pee Wee Herman clone living in an elaborate house that garners some gags that aren’t all too funny but pretty indicative of where the Ernest character was during his inception. In this more adult film, Ernest is mistaken for a Death Row inmate and is forced to trade roles with the inmate during a tour of the prison.
While there, Ernest is thought to be the murderous prisoner and attempts to escape on more than one occasion. His trip to an electric chair gives him super powers that allow him to strike back at his spitting image who is outside wreaking havoc on Ernest’s lush life. “Ernest Goes to Jail” is a funny and surreal bit of entertainment and one that may not be all too exciting for the children who will see the hero who fought trolls in one movie being electrocuted on a chair in prison the next moment. The film adheres to Ernest’s typical off the wall comedy, but much of it is too wonky to enjoy on an innocent level. I still enjoy it to some degree, but like the others it’s not a masterpiece. 1987’s “Ernest Goes to Camp” is admittedly one of the few Ernest film I’ve never seen. Save for Ernest’s later more dismal comedies, this is the earlier Ernest adventures I’d never actually sat down to watch in its entirety and it’s surely not the best of the installments.
A light rip off of “Meatballs,” Ernest is a handyman at a summer camp who garners the love and respect of a small group of juvenile delinquent counselors he’s tasked with leading in to summer festivities and a bid for respect, all the while running afoul a local mining corporation that has evil plans in store for the beloved camp. Of course, Ernest saves the day and garners his own respect in the end. But then he’s not one to just stay at a single location as the world needs Ernest. The DVD’s are all considerably good quality, the sad fact though it “Camp” has a canned audio to it that can be distracting, and there is the lack of extras, but seeing as this is more an archival collection than a collector’s edition, it’s fit for your buck. Ernest was something back in the day and he lives on through these three bits of nostalgia, each of which have their own places in the audiences favor and will be picked exclusively by folks looking to go along with Ernest to Camp, to Jail, or to save Halloween.
The great Jim Varney is not forgotten. We now know him by his unfunny more derivative moniker Larry the Cable Guy, but back in the eighties, he was Ernest, the original article, the main man who always won out in the end. KnowhutImean?