While some family and friends meet and greet during Christmas, others watch classic movies together. Home Alone joins this rank. In 2020, Home Alone will be marking its 30th anniversary since it was released. What made it hugely popular is the over dozen booby traps that Kev used to thwart burglars trying to break into the McCallister house. Here’s what we feel were the seven most potent traps.
Blowtorch
One of the tough booby traps Kevin had to pull-off is the blowtorch, which stops Harry who’s trying to sneak into the McCallister’s home using the back door. Harry pushes the door not knowing there’s a rope that activates a blowtorch, which shoots flames to his head. He’s lucky to escape with a burning marvin which he’s able to douse by dipping his head in the snow. Setting up a trap of this nature probably took Kevin a couple of hours. And it’s likely he didn’t even have the time to adjust the height or test the blowtorch.
Paint Cans
Mary and Harry regain their balance and start heading up the stairs. Kevin swings a paint can, which hangs from the top of the stairs. The can knocks them on their face and onto the floor. While this appears to be a simple homemade trap, the difficulty revolves around the fact Kevin has to determine the paint can’s trajectory from his position as the burglars walk up the stairs. That’s not a mathematical challenge any 8-year old wouldn’t want to tackle.
Tripwire
Among the memorable traps in Kevin’s arsenal, the trip wire stops Harry who’s pursuing him. Harry tries lunging at him but the boy retreats to safety. Harry is so worked up that he fails to notice Kev has set a tripwire right at the top of the staircase. In his haste, he steps over it and falls down. Kevin perhaps used this trap with the understanding Harry wouldn’t notice the trap right away. And it works as he’d planned.
Toy Cars
Marv and Harry meet up in the McCallister’s living room and decide to go up the set of stairs to get Kevin. Kevin anticipates this and covers the stairs in toy cars. When both men step on the toys, they fall. It’s a classic kid’s booby trap and one that’s easy to set up too. Right? Not easy as you think. Kevin would have to hope Marv and Harry will step on his toys in a particular way, as they would have pushed away the toys or by-passed them before climbing the stairs.
Red-Hot Doorknob
When Harry walks up to the front door, he tries to turn the doorknob and get in. What he doesn’t know is Kevin has heated up the doorknob with an electric barbecue lighter from the inside. The door is hot, and it burns Harry’s palm, branding him with “M”. Similar to the toy booby trap, this burn won’t do much harm to Harry as it’s not hot enough to burst into flames. But there’s a real possibility he would get an infection before his hands heal.
Icy Steps
While this doesn’t look like a deadly trap, it surely is as Marv trips while making the first step and tumbles all the way to the bottom of the steps. A lot of people report this type of accident in the winter season. And it could harm them seriously. Marv is lucky to have to deal with pains and aches for a couple of days and not broken ribs or spine.
Conclusion
Home Alone has remained etched in our collective minds due to its comical scenes and booby traps. Perhaps it’s the one reason audiences keep watching this movie every Christmas. 30 years down the line, you can now appreciate Kev’s ability to predict the Wet Bandits’ steps and thwart them with his simple home-made traps.