EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam was on USA Up All Night on December 23, 1995.

Before the world outside of Nashville (he’s already been doing more than twenty different brands’ ads as Ernest) knew him as the denim-clad, nasally-voiced icon Ernest P. Worrell, Jim Varney was busy playing a mad scientist with a hand living on top of his head.

Directed by John Cherry—the architect of the entire Ernest cinematic universe—this flick is essentially the Big Bang. While it’s technically the first film to feature Ernest, it’s a far cry from the slapstick family outings that would later define Varney’s career. This is darker, weirder and plays fast and loose with reality, KnowhutImean?

Dr. Otto (played by Varney in heavy prosthetics) is a villain with a serious ego and a literal hand attached to his scalp. He’s intent on world domination using the Gloom Beam, a device designed to erase the contents of every bank on Earth, plunging humanity into economic collapse. To stop him, the powers-that-be call in Lance Sterling, an all-American hero who is essentially Otto’s polar opposite—born on the same day in the same hospital, but raised with love instead of, well, being the result of a botched abortion.

The real draw here is Varney’s sheer commitment to the bit. To dismantle Lance and his sidekick, Doris Talbert, Otto uses a changing coffin to assume a variety of bizarre disguises, like Australia child-trainer Rudd Hardtack, pirate captain Laughing Jack O’Cockney, the drug-dealing Auntie Nelda, and Guy Dandy, a wealthy playboy who is exactly as sleazy as he sounds.

The chase takes them through bizarre scenarios, including Russian roulette and accidental elevators that lead straight to the villain’s lair. In true B-movie fashion, the climax hinges on a binary choice between a Right Button and a Wrong Button, because why complicate things?

Jim Varney is the engine of this movie. He plays nearly every major role, showing off the manic energy that made him a commercial sensation long before the big screen took notice.

The supporting cast is led by Myke R. Mueller as the heroic Lance and Jackie Welch as Doris. You’ll also spot Bill Byrge—a staple of the later Ernest films—popping up as a gas station attendant. The production itself was a local affair, filmed in Tennessee spots like Fall Creek Falls State Park and Nashville.

This was intended to be the start of a massive franchise, and a sequel, Song of the Tarantula Women, was even in development. Plans for that were quickly scrapped when The Walt Disney Company came calling, looking to turn the Ernest character into a cinematic juggernaut.

As writer Coke Sams joked, “Disney intervened.”

You can watch this on Tubi.