Trantor The Troll

Ernest Scared Stupid is a 1991 American comedy horror film directed by John Cherry. It stars Jim Varney and Eartha Kitt. It is the fifth film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, and the fourth film in the Ernest series, following Ernest Goes to Jail (1990). 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 released on October 11, 1991, and grossed $14.1 million. It is the final "Ernest" film to be released by Touchstone Pictures, as part of a multi-picture deal. The next film in the series, Ernest Rides Again, was released in November 1993.

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 Rev. Phineas Worrell, the village minister and the 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, 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 set Trantor free.

One hundred years later, Ernest, a sanitation worker, helps a few of his middle school friends, Kenny Binder, Elizabeth and Joey, construct a treehouse in the same tree that unknowingly contains the dormant creature, after the mayor's sons demolished their own cardboard haunted house. When Old Lady Hackmore discovers this, she angrily leaves. Following her, Ernest learns the story of Trantor and idiotically reports it to the kids. Inadvertently, Ernest releases the troll.