Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam

This movie is strangely surreal, and if you're an Ernest/Jim Varney fan in the least, you'll really enjoy it. The film starts a bit slow, but really starts to come together when we learn the connection between bumbling hero Lance Sterling (great name!) and pussy-willow-adorned, third-hand-on-his-head villain Dr. Otto. Willie the Robot is also a hoot, what with his changing smiley-face expressions, and Lance's assistant Doris is the brains behind the hero. Auntie Nelda is fall-down funny, especially when she's discussing her "dear, departed nephew Hymie" or clubbing creatures on the floor with a toxin-laden ladle.

There are a lot of little clever bits and dialog that make the movie enjoyable. It may be hard to find, so good luck!

This is officially the first film in the long running Ernest series. It was based on a series of commercials. Ernest himself actually only has two minutes of screen time in the entire movie. He turns into this supervillain named Dr. Otto. At least I think that's him or does he turn into Ernest? He tries to take over the world by destroying the economy.

A lot of this seems to be filmed in the dark, but it also surprisingly has a lot of color. My favorite part is when there's a newspaper that says "Francs Collapse", only for a guy named Frank to literally collapse. I thought this was a compilation film at first. It kind of was, as we got to see Jim Varney in all these different personas that did seem like separate parts. The film isn't memorable, but is completely harmless. It's the highest rated Ernest movie here, but I'd probably say "Ernest Saves Christmas" is the best, not that any of them are technically good. **1/2

You can't describe this as the first Ernest movie because it's not part of the Ernest-movie genre. It's a wickedly weird comic masterpiece that will have you laughing out loud.

Jim Varney's first real movie is quite a delight, but don't come in expecting to see Ernest P. Worrel any time soon. I felt the wide array of characters Varney depicted were great, but without being said, the rest of the movie should be put into a mulcher or something. A rather odd beginning for a movie icon.

This is the stupidest movie you will ever see. There is no plot, and the scenes change constantly, with none of the scenes connected to the last. This is the kind of movie you hate to have to watch. Though there are a few funny parts, it is not worth watching at all.