Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Home Alone
This year is the 30th anniversary of the holiday classic “Home Alone.” After its release in 1990, it was a box office hit, and for many, the movie became a holiday tradition that families watch year after year.
While much of the movie focused on Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, the real star of the show is the booby traps that were set in the McCallister home. By using everyday objects like water, irons and ornaments, Kevin planned an impressive ambush that still inspires laughter.
How Many Home Alone Booby Traps Do You Remember?
In the movie, Kevin managed to thwart the duo of burglars known as the Wet Bandits, but would you be able to bypass all of the booby traps?
This infographic of the McCallister house mapped out the floor plan of the Home Alone house and the booby traps from the movie. The detailed image shows each of the incidents where the burglars were caught off guard by something unexpected. Look closely to see how many booby traps you can find.
Which Traps Were the Most Dangerous?
Some of the Home Alone booby traps were painful, and some were surprising. But when medical professionals weighed in, they found that some of the traps were downright dangerous.
Dr. Ryan St. Clair of Weill Cornell Medical College told The Week that the iron falling through the laundry chute would have caused significant harm if the incident happened in the real world. The four-pound steam iron falling 15 feet to the basement would have had enough force to fracture all of the bones around the eyes.
“This is also known as a ‘blowout fracture’ and can lead to serious disfigurement and debilitating double vision if not repaired properly,” they said.
Another dangerous trap was the red-hot doorknob. To glow that color, the metal is estimated to be about 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The doctor says, “The temperature of that doorknob is not quite hot enough to cause Harry’s hand to burst into flames, but it is not that far off.”
How Well Did Kevin Protect the McCallister House?
As home repair professionals, we watch “Home Alone” with a keen eye focused on property damage.
After the Wet Bandits robbed Kevin’s neighbor’s house, they left the faucet running as a part of their signature calling card. As we see at the end of the movie, this caused the home’s basement to flood with nearly a foot of water.
Total damages probably included first-story flooring, drywall, the furnace, hot water heater, and more. A flooded home can be expensive to repair, and FEMA estimated that one foot of water cost about $72,162 in repairs.
Ultimately, it was Old Man Marley who defeated the burglars. However, Kevin’s antics helped stop his family from being robbed and the inevitable flood damage the Wet Bandits would leave behind.
Since the McCalister house was 4,243 square feet and the family would have been in Paris for a week, the home could have had up to three feet of water in their basement if the Wet Bandits had been successful. In this case, FEMA estimates the damages would have totaled $185,704. Yikes!
Learn more about the basement experts at Groundworks can help you protect your home from a flood with sump pumps, interior drains and waterproofing.