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Part of Nashville: A City On Film
Wed, Jun 18 at 8:00pm: Post-screening discussion with Josh Cherry, son of director John R. Cherry III, apprentice editor, and troll wrangler | BUY TICKETS
When garbageman Ernest P. Worrell, heir of a 19th century minister who banished a child-stealing troll and was subsequently cursed, accidentally reawakens the ancient evil while building a treehouse with some local kids and his dog Rimshot, he must fight back to save the town of Briarville, MO from Trantor and his hideous hordes.
Multi-hyphenate Eartha Kitt turns in a phenomenal performance as the curmudgeonly Old Lady Hackmore alongside bit roles from longtime collaborator Bill Byrge as recurrent character Bobby and Larry Black (THE THING CALLED LOVE) as Mayor Murdock. Co-written and produced by longtime Nashville filmmaking staple Coke Sams (EXISTO) and with a soundtrack from musician and actor Bruce Arnston (also of EXISTO fame).
This Halloween-set entry in the beloved family franchise, featuring the bumbling buffoonery of national treasure Jim Varney as southern-fried live-action Looney Tune Ernest — and co-created with director John Cherry and Jerry Carden for a series of local commercials — was shot on location in East Nashville’s Five Points and Shelby Park. The film essentially serves as a feature-length ad for Carden & Cherry’s longtime ad partner and local dairy legends Purity Milk (also celebrating their 100th anniversary this year) — offering a nostalgic look at a Nashville that once was.
ERNEST SCARED STUPID was the final entry in a four-feature deal with Touchstone Pictures and though it was also by far the poorest performing, it’s since become a certifiable cult classic and a source of trauma-bonding for ‘90s kids lucky enough to have stumbled across the VHS. Featuring impressively effective and goopy creature design by the Chiodo Brothers (who recycle some of their designs from KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE), this very special slice of Nashville genre filmmaking was one of the most fun entries in 2023’s 12 Hours of Terror.
“Probably the only TV commercial character to translate to the movie screen, the dumb but earnest Ernest is — like Pee-wee Herman — trapped in a perpetual state of preadolescence. Unlike Pee-wee, however, there's no baby boomer point of reference by which to explain his success. Indeed, the hippest thing about Ernest may be that he's so unhip.” —Steve Davis, Austin Chronicle (Oct 18, 1991)
