Home Alone is a classic Christmas movie that people love to watch with their friends and family every year. In 2020, Home Alone turns 30 years old, marking 30 years of people watching this movie with friends, family, and loved ones. The booby traps are certainly a huge part of the Home Alone appeal, and not all of them would have been especially easy to create. Here are the five booby traps that would have been the most difficult to do properly in the McCallister house.
Blowtorch
One example of a difficult-to-pull-off booby trap is the blowtorch trap. Harry comes around to the back of the home, then walks in through the back door. This is a trap that turns on a blowtorch, which sets the top of his head on fire. There are many elements to this, all of which would have been difficult to do. The mechanic that turns on the blowtorch would have to work perfectly, Kevin probably didn’t get a chance to test it, and the blowtorch needed to be at the right height to set Harry’s head on fire and not roast his face.
Chicken Suit
As Harry continues through the home, he opens a door and accidentally covers himself in caulking glue that Kevin has smeared all over plastic wrap. Then, he triggers a fan that blows feathers all over him in a manner reminiscent of tarring and feathering. This would have been a difficult trap to set up simply because Kevin had to have faith that Harry would have triggered both elements of the booby trap, not just one of them.
Toy Cars
When Marv and Harry reunite in the home, they decide to go up the stairs to find Kevin. Of course, Kevin knows they’re planning to try and find him at this point. That’s why he covers the bottom of the stairs in toy cars; when the men step on these toy cars, they trip and fall. This wouldn’t necessarily be hugely difficult for Kevin to set up, but he would have had to hope that the men stepped on these cars in a very specific way, as there are many ways they could have avoided stepping and tripping on the toy cars.
Paint Cans
Next, Marv and Harry regain their balance and head up the stairs. In an attempt to knock them back, Kevin uses a paint can, which he hangs from the top of the stairs and swings into the burglars. Although this one seems pretty straightforward, it’s surprisingly complicated. For the most part, the complication in this booby trap revolves around the fact that Kevin would have to judge the trajectory of the paint cans from where he was standing at the top of the stairs. Because the burglars are walking up the stairs, it’s a bit of a mathematics challenge.
Tripwire
In one of the last traps, Harry attempts to lunge toward Kevin as the boy runs back toward safety. In his haste to capture Kevin, Harry fails to notice the tripwire that Kevin has strung up at the top of the stairs. Again, Kevin’s ability to use this trap hinges almost entirely on the idea that Harry won’t notice the tripwire that he’s created. He’s made Harry angry enough that the man doesn’t notice and falls for the trap immediately, but it was possible that Harry could have stepped over the trap if he wasn’t so furious.
Conclusion
The booby traps are one of the things that keeps audiences coming back to Home Alone 30 years after its inception, and it’ll probably keep audiences coming back for another 30 years to come. Next time you watch Home Alone, you’ll probably gain some extra appreciation for Kevin’s ability to know where these burglars are going to be next.