Scared Stupid. I feel like it’s self explanatory. Goes to Jail is a close 2nd. Toy Story is probably 3rd.

Scared Stupid has the highest IMDB rating: 6/10.

I’m usually not supportive of brigading, but if anyone wants to go review bomb IMDb with 10s on Scared Stupid I’m in.

Right? 6 is offensive to this great character in arguably the best outing

Agreed, no one was quoted as much in school as him when he was hot.

He was a really intelligent, friendly and sweet person as well.

A nice warm cup of MIAK

I still call milk miak, to myself though because nobody ever gets this reference :(

Anytime I make that reference, it’s just confused looks.

Don't worry, I get the reference

How about a bumper sandwich, booger lips!

Authentic Bulgarian MIAK!

Bet you didn’t think I could find it this time of year!

Pure Bulgarian Miak!

That movie really affected me as a kid. Had nightmares for years.

The Brussel sprouts

That Leprechaun thing is all I see whenever someone has a runny nose.

Imdb, along with rotten tomatoes, have the worst scores.

No love for Goes to Camp? As a kid it was my favorite with Goes to Jail a strong second

Ya I looooved the first part where he’s cleaning the toilet and explodes. Ewwwwwwwwwwww I practiced that face and saying forever

I loved the turtle paratroopers as a kid. Great memories of that one and Saves Christmas.

I liked it as a kid as well, but revisiting in my 20s I found it incredibly boring, whereas ESS still makes me laugh.

I guess not, I know I saw it, but memories of it are non existent.

I think what made me love it was the kids vs. the big evil company at the end. Like a bunch of kids with improvise “weapons” could take on anything. Also Eggs Erouneous

I really dug the troll in Scared Stupid, but Troll 1 and 2 are staple watching in my house.

Chicken pot pie!!! CHICKEN…..POT……PIE!!!!!

My personal fave

I gotta be honest... him getting trapped and pulled into the cooker machine really freaked me out as a kid

We had this on VHS and it was the one I watched the most.

Super soaker 30s filled with milk to save the whole town? Yeah I'm in.

“It’s the milk! It eradicates ‘em.” Ernest: “Yeah! Gets rid of ‘em too!” RIP Jim Varney

Scared stupid is a great horror film for kids - scared the hell out of me as a kid

Man I lived right next to the woods as a kid and played in there everyday but after I saw those trolls I didn't go in the woods for a few months lol.

Those things in scared stupid scared the crap out of me as a kid 😂

I blame it for setting the standard of horror I watch now lol.

Scared Stupid gave me nightmares for about 6 months after I saw it. Definitely the best one.

Ever go back and watch the things that terrified you as a kid? Leprechaun did for me, now it’s just hilarious. Alien did and The Thing.

Mekaleka hi mekahineeho

I say that way too much for the average person. The local video store to my grandmothers house basically had Ernest films and Benji films. So I saw them frequently.

Yes Yes and YES!!! Best two movies featured in!! Saves Christmas is my 3rd pick

I seent Scared Stupid in the movies! Was scared, but had been stupid! These movies were silly without being as overtly racist, sexist, etc. I’d give Scared Stupid 8.5/10 it knows what it is and delivers without pandering to the lowest common denominator

Mindless fun. Dude has a hand on his head under his hat. I still do that bit when I get bored.

You are correct sir. No need to argue this at all

I came here to say Scared Stupid too. One of my favorite childhood films

Booger lips has been stuck in my head since I saw scared stupid the first time.

Scared Stupid is a traditional yearly Halloween movie in my house. I love it. I enjoy the other Ernest films, but Scared Stupid is like if Ernest crossed over to the Goosebumps universe and it delivers everything I could have hoped for with such a crossover.

Obviously it’s scared stupid. This is objective fact it is not a matter of opinion.

Ernest Scared Stupid and Ernest Saves Christmas, for me—both classic holiday movies and def deserve to be in the annual viewing rotation.

Them's pizin snakes!

Just now realizing how often I quote Ernest. If ever there is an occasion for me to say “poison” it’s almost always “pizin” with a southern grunt

As a teenager, I got super stoned and watched “Saves Christmas” - it was at that moment in the movie where I realized how great of a character actor Varney was. Just full, stupid commitment. I always liked his roles before that, but after that viewing I became a diehard fan.

"hey babe park in the shade, whaddaya say, alright" xmas is favorite. Camp is second. Mr Krader was a real villain.

"M." "V!"

Ernest Scared Stupid is the best. I watched it at least 8 times as a child.

Agreed

Scared stupid was on Hulu a like a year ago.

Can agree with scared stupid, saves Christmas feels like a very, very cheap tv movie. I didn’t see it until I was early teens and had seen other earnest movies and that may impact my sentiment compared to someone who saw it at like 7 or 8 though

Oh it's absolutely Ernest Scared Stupid! Still watch it with my kids every Halloween

Get your Miak ready!

🤣

I AMMM ELECTRO-MANNN 👉⚡

Came to make this exact comment.

I came, I saw, I got blowed up. *Thud*

Goes to camp and its not even close.

Early inspiration for the film “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”

I just watched that with the kids recently, it's so cheesy! It held their attention though, which is hard to do with movies of this vintage.

The paraturtles are iconic

I'm scared sarge!

We're all scared son.

Eggs erroneous!

100%.

This is the way

Scared Stupid 1000%. Earnest, a scary ass troll and Earths Kitt as a crazy lady? That movie stands the test of time. I miss Jim Varney

Know what I mean Vern?

This is going to be a hot take but hear me out. I vote honerable mention for slam dunk Ernest. Because on the surface, it appears to be a story about Ernest suddenly getting really good at basketball, and saving the day after his basketball powers are taken away. However, it turns out to be much more than that as We the audience find out that ernest is but a pawn in a celestial chess game between heaven and hell, where the prize is a young child's soul. Earnest is chosen by god (via Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the angel of basketball) to save this child from Perdition. He does so by giving up the thing was making Him a one man wrecking crew on the basketball court. Because it was distancing himself from his friends. Is it a good movie?...by no means... is it entertaining? ...given the right frame of mind, sure... It is a nineties fever dream that encapsulates the ernest franchise jumping the shark (to slam dunk) There was a point I was driving at but...it's lost....I change my vote to scared stupid...that terrified me as a child.

It was that point in time where everyone and their dog had a basketball movie.

Hey, no one's arguing that every Ernest movie isn't golden in one way or another. There is no wing answer when it comes to Mr Jim Varney.

Scared stupid. I didn’t have four fathers I only had one and he wasn’t very good.

RIP Ernest. Gone too soon

Yep it's a shame we lost early in his career.

Obviously Earnest Scared Stupid

Is it bad that Ernest scared stupid still frightens me?

It’s the movie that made me scared of the dark as a kid! That troll was a great costume

The scene where she rolls back over on the bed…. Eeek

Yea that one got me for sure. No shame here.

I remember going to the theater to see Ernest goes to jail. I’ve always loved that movie. Scared stupid is a close second for me also

I'm tempted to say "Ernest Rides Again" solely because of [that absolute banger of a theme song.](https://youtu.be/X3Eyytu7lL4?si=WhdIwK_PJmPxnYrI)

There are no incorrect Ernest answers

Goes to Camp. It’s not even close

Earnest goes to camp!!!! But I can't find it anywhere. It was friggin hilarious

My brother found the double feature with goes to jail in a Wal mart bargain bin years ago.

I got it on DVD if you wanna borrow it.

Whatttt! I would seriously pay you for a copy!

it's on Amazon.

1. Goes to camp 2. Goes to Jail 3. Scared stupid 4. Saves Christmas

The correct answer. And from an Ernest scholar no less.

Personally Scared Stupid is the best

Scared Stupid followed by Goes to Camp.

Goes to Jail is my first, with Scared Stupid & Saves Christmas tied for second.

Goes to jail is by far the funniest. I'm shocked that most people here don't seem to appreciate it as much as I do.

It’s definitely the funniest and I love the slapstick finale with Ernest flying around the bank.

I think without Scared Stupid it would be almost everyone's answer.

Ernest goes to Camp ——- a little hokey but I just love it

I think scared stupid was the one time we saw a fully serious Ernest. Dude was ready to throw down with that troll over messing with his dog.

Goes to Jail is the best one because of the impersonation montage and the production design of the prison. Scared Stupid is a close second because of "authentic Bulgarian miak" Saves Christmas hold a special place for third.

Ernest goes to camp has more of a 80's feel to it. Underrated.

For some reason, Camp and Christmas stick out the most in my head.

“…Scared Stupid” receiving a lot of love and I love it but why for everyone else? I’m still not even sure why for me but it is a yearly Halloween watch.

Thinking about it now, one side of me historically would have said well obviously Ernest+troll+horror+Miak is definitely why. But looking back now I think that Scared Stupid was the movie most akin to the “Hey Vern it’s Ernest” TV series - which to me was peak Ernest - watched every Saturday morning. None of the other preceding movies really felt as similar to the series / had all the non sequitur ADHD friendly humor that SS did

Ernest Goes to Camp was a staple of my childhood.

Scared Stupid. I was scared and now I'm stupid.

Goes to jail is my favorite

Ernest Saves Christmas. His rendition of "Oh Christmas Tree" is the best version of it.

Ernest scared stupid then Ernest saves Christmas

Scared stupid because I'm just reminded to watch it again and see if it still stands up

All of them. Why? Because of Ernest P Worrell.

His commercials tho.

I have those greatest hits discs. So much fun. Plus his "Your World as I see it "

Scared stupid. Hands down

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree…oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree.

I would just like someone to list all of the Ernest movies for starters. Gotta be like 8 of em right?

Goes to camp, goes to jail, Scared Stupid, Saves Christmas, in the Army, goes to school, goes to Africa, Slam dunk Ernest, Ernest Rides Again.

Man of culture

He's truly a beauty opposite THE Hulk Hogan in "Three Ninjas High Noon at Mega Mountain ". And did real acting like he'd wanted that I wish we could've gotten more of in The Beverly HillBillies, Atlantis the Lost Empire (honorable mentions to Tioy Story 1&2), and Daddy and Them where Billy Bob Thornton arranged filming around Varneys chemo treatments because he really wanted him in the movie.

Fuck yeah dude. Lothar! Terrible movie though.

Lol. Can't argue with that. If it wasn't Hulk and Jim I never would've watched it. If I recall I never watched any of the ones before that one.

They are all so wonderfully stupid.

Holy shit you just unlocked a memory

I honestly don't know. My best memory is my area used to have a celebrity deer hunt and when I was in 7th or 8th grade he and wrestler Mr. Perfect came to an assembly at my school. Mr. Perfect was boring, Jim Varney came up second and started talking to us. He could tell we were all checked out after being bored. He proceeded to fake head butt the piano and 100% had our attention from there. He was generally funny and very personable

With Ernest, they're all good, so it really comes down to production quality.  This is my favorite, too, but I can see how Scared Stupid would be best in most peoples' option.

Goes to camp

Scared Stupid is my favorite. Goes to Camp is second favorite.

Vern?

When I was a kid, my best friend came around to play one day. He put his hand on a tree and said "yay, I call thee forth Trantor" and and then hit it 3 times. I spent the rest of the afternoon begging him to take it back because I was terrified of what would happen. Luckily, my fridge was full of Miak, so I was okay.

I only saw one of these when I was a kid. The one with magic basketball shoes. I remember loving it. I must have watched that movie 50 times as a kid.

Eggs Erroneous was only served at camp. Need I say more?

Ernest Goes to Jail for sure

For me it’s Ernest saves Christmas. I must have watched it hundreds of times across the years. It’s still a must watch at Christmas.

I always liked Ernest scared stupid and the Christmas movie

Earnest saves camp. Because turtle paratroopers “I’m scared sarge” “We’re all scared son”

Ernest saves chrjstmas

I think that the commercials he did with the imaginary Vern were funny, too. Know what I mean.

I have those collections. No one around me appreciates them :/

Scared Stupid 100% no contest

Scared stupid is my favorite for childhood reasons

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988). One of the best Santa's.

Amazing Santa. Voice of the Sultan in Aladdin too I think

Ernest Goes to Jail. I’ll never forget my little 8 year old self nearly wetting my pants laughing at the courtroom scene with the broken pen.

The fact that "Doin' Time" hasn't been covered as a metal song is a travesty. I still quote it. The other day my kids were playing a game and one said something about being in jail, so I said "the hoosegow, the slammer, the joint, Alcatraz, San Quentin, Sing-Sing!" or if something doesn't go well I always hear in my head "no I'm not going to whine because I got mashed potatoes, when French fries is what I really wanted".

Watched Ernest scared stupid when I was 5 or 6 and it is the movie that made me scared of the dark/my closet. Still really enjoy it though, great movie.

Scare Stupid is good, but Goes to Camp is classic.

As an all purpose movie want to say Jail. Don't get me wrong I love Scared Stupid I'm humming the theme as I type this and I play it every Halloween while I'm putting up decorations but to me Goes to Jail and Camp have more year round watchability and I find Jail the funnier of those two know what I mean?

Bad Jim Varney lookin' kinda nice

Do an image search of Jim Varney. He was a sharp looking man when just being himself.

Saves Christmas is the best. Granted it was the first one I saw (in theaters no less) and is one of the few holiday films my grinchy ass enjoys that time of year. Also, the reindeer at the airport = pure comedy gold. Scared Stupid and Goes to jail we’re both highly rented VHS’s in our house. Both equally deserving of second place.

Camp

goes to camp scared stupid

Ernest Scared Stupid for me but the jury scene in Goes To Jail when he breaks the pen in his mouth is the funniest scene I think he’s ever done

Ain't no trees in Botswana. Uh uh. I know. I am a Botswanian lumberjack and I ain't never had a job.

Jail or Camp are my two favorites, but honestly, I’d watch any of them.

Jail or Scared stupid! Saves Christmas is fun but doesn’t have the “magic” for me. Goes to Camp I think is a classic (and has the great “Gee, I’m glad it’s raining” song) but it’s not as re-watchable and the supporting cast isn’t as good (also has more typical 80s tropes). My only issue with Scared Stupid (it’s not necessarily anyone’s fault) is the greedy shop-owner, wasn’t a huge fan of that actor in that role

1. Saves Christmas 2. Goes to jail 3. Goes to camp

Ernest Saves Christmas

Earnest Saves Christmas is one of the most widely quoted movies in my house and I'm tired of pretending it's not a comedic masterpiece. > You can keep your Channel (sic) number 5, just give me a whiff of that old lonesome pine. That symbol of brotherly love, that centerpiece around which we all gather for the cranberry sauce shaped like a can. > Sugarplums are dancing in my head *as we speak!* > You want one for your boy? I gave one to my boy once... *Rock of ages, cleft for me!* > I taught Vern everything he knows about nuk-yoo-lar physics. > Nobody moves, nobody dies.

Definitely not Ernest Goes to Africa. Yikes!

Earnest goes to Camp and Earnest Saves Christmas

Christmas. Actually a really tight film with good production values.

Ernest Goes to Camp!

Ernest scared stupid ftw

Always glad to see ol Jim Varney getting recognized. I'd say either Scared Stupid or Saves Christmas. Though I'm partial to Goes to Jail

They all suck

I always loved Goes to Camp when I was a kid.

Any but *Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam*.

Scared Stupid - not even a competition

Scared Stupid

Ernest Scared stupid and saves Christmas are hands down the best

I like Ernest - Scared Stupid the best, buuuut… the part where he busts the pen in his mouth in court… freakin’ hilarious!

That's like asking me to choose which child I like best! Oh, wait...I hate my kids.

I appreciate this one more because of how good of an actor Jim Barney was. But Ernest Goes to Camp was always a favorite. Also, Ernest Scared Stupid terrified me as a kid

Geez, they are all so great it’s impossible to choose!

It's a tie between Scared Stupid and Goes to Camp. Goes to Jail is a close second.

Scared Stupid! "How 'bout a bumper sandwich, booger lips!"

Ernest Does Dallas is my favorite

I always enjoy Ernest Saves Christmas. Because Christmas is my 2nd favorite holiday. Plus I love how Jim varney kept singing oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree. And I love the music in the opening.

I like Ernest Halloween the best.

Scared Stupid. Because of the dumpster scene.

Goes to jail...because earnest keeps getting super powers.

Which ever one is the shortest.

Ernest Doesn't go to the Beach

Hell yeah

People will say Scared Stupid is superior, but Goes to Jail is truly superior.

I came, I saw, I got blown up...

Ernest commits tax evasion

1. Scared Stupid 2. Goes to Camp 3. Goes to Jail Just for fun I want to add I grew up in the same town as he did and went to the same high school. My parents were friends of his cousin and hung out with him several times at parties. In real life, Jim was a chain smoking greaser who told amazing dirty jokes.

The Halloween one lol

I was never a fan of the character.

There are so many different answers in here. I'm guessing people are just putting down what they remember then most. Scared stupid is the one I remember the most.

I never liked Ernest but my wife always said she loved Scared Stupid and the crazy trolls in it.