The Home Alone movies are widely regarded as some of the greatest and most beloved family comedies ever. John Hughes’ fantastic original is a holiday classic: its reputation precedes it and fans will sit to watch whenever it’s on TV, regardless of how many times they’ve already seen it.

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The franchise may have lost steam as it went on, but every entry was chock-full of one thing: hilarious, bone-crunching-yet-utterly-innocent slapstick. Seeing a youthful Macaulay Culkin (and his successors) set hapless thieves’ heads on fire or attack them with a staple gun rigged to the front door never gets old, but what of the consequences? Let’s leave suspension of disbelief behind and take a look at some Home Alone traps that could definitely have had lethal results in real life.

The Iron Attached To The Light Switch (Home Alone)

Marv Murchins struck by the iron in Home Alone

The original is a classic comedy full of absurd cartoonish violence. As always with the series, some traps are rather simple, while others are very elaborate. One particular fan favorite, the falling iron, involved a complex pulley system that the devious Kevin McCallister had rigged up.

Trying to find a route into the home, Marv blunders through the basement in the dark. He locates the light switch and pulls it, realizing too late that the rope he tugged had sent a steaming iron speeding through a vent towards his head. The direct hit in the head, at that speed from that height, would surely have brought a swift end to one half of the Wet Bandits’ thieving days.

The Staple Gun Rigged To The Doorknob (Home Alone 2: Lost In New York)

Marv Murchins at the front door in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

As besieged forces have known since the dawn of time (just watch a few sword and sandals dramas for evidence of this), there’s one key area of a fortification that must be defended: the front door. That’s a real no-brainer.

By the time of Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, Kevin has mastered his craft, and the hapless Marv really should’ve known better than to try the door. By so doing, the would-be burglar accidentally sets off another trap: the staple gun Kevin had set up on the other side. This may be a little tamer (in theory) than some of the other traps on the list, but this trick could have caused some major damage to some… delicate areas.

The Flower Pot Trip Wire (Home Alone 3)

Alice Ribbons knocked out in Home Alone 3

The third movie in the franchise, of course, essentially marked Macaulay Culkin/Kevin McCallister’s departure. Instead, it starred Alex D. Linz as Alex Pruitt, another resourceful young boy who doesn’t take kindly to trespassers in his home.

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In their assault on the Pruitts’ front yard, one of the thieves, Alice Ribbons, falls victim to several traps in quick succession. The glue on the other side of the gate was first, followed by the great pool of mud on the other side. Falling into it after climbing over the gate, she sets off a hidden tripwire, which sends a heavy flower pot careening into her head. Once again, it’s a classic trick, but one that could have done a lot more than simply knock Alice out. Especially as she’s promptly hit by another on regaining consciousness.

Harry’s Head Is Set On Fire (Home Alone)

Harry Lyme burned by the blowtorch in Home Alone

Like a lot of the sad fates that befall Wile E. Coyote (or the tragic Scratchy of Itchy and Scratchy fame), Home Alone features a lot of hilarious incidents that would actually be horrifying if viewers stopped and thought about them too much. This particular moment from the first movie is definitely one of those.

Trying to enter the back door of the McCallister home, the hapless Harry Lyme triggers a trap that sees his head seared with a blowtorch. The grim injury he’s left with speaks for itself here.

Crushed By The Dumbwaiter (Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House)

Marv Murchins In Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House

As fans of Mission: Impossible will know, elevators can be super, super dangerous. Especially if you’re an elite agent taking a stealthy ride on the top of one. Emilio Estevez’s grim demise in that movie was kind of recreated in grim, snarky fashion (and in miniature) in Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House.

In the fourth entry in the franchise, French Stewart's take on bumbling burglar Marv Murchins is crushed (more than once) by the dumbwaiter in which Kevin McCallister (played here by Mike Weinberg) is riding. Silly as the moment is, the logistics of this are a little too grim to dwell on.

The ‘Electric Chair’ (Home Alone 3)

Burton Jurnigan in Home Alone 3

While there’s nothing funny about electric shocks, Cartoons and comedies just love exaggerating them to darkly hilarious effect. The villainous Burton Jurnigan didn’t see the funny side in Home Alone 3, however.

Alex Pruitt, Burton discovered much too late, had connected a chair to the battery of a golf kart. Making the terrible mistake of sitting in it, the thief is smashed into the wall by the force of the shock. As usual, this served to do little more in the long term than anger the villain, but the damage would’ve been far more severe in real life.

The Ladder Trap (Home Alone 2: Lost In New York)

Harry Lyme falling off the ladder in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

With ladders being a traditional tool of slapstick comedy since the days of the late great Charlie Chaplin and beyond, it’s no surprise that they’re used quite extensively in Home Alone. Kevin uses them to great success against the thieves on multiple occasions, with the sabotaged ladder in Lost In New York being one notable example.

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Harry, in his pursuit of Kevin, fails to noticed that the ladder his nemesis just climbed up is rigged to fall apart. He barely climbs a rung or two before it breaks, catapulting him headfirst into the floor. Who knows what kind of injury he could’ve sustained here? Marv himself states that he’s amazed Harry didn’t even lose any teeth.

The Sticky Tape Trap On The Stairs (Home Alone: The Holiday Heist)

Finn Baxter setting the sticky tape trap in Home Alone: The Holiday Heist

Five movies in, it's tough to see how much more mileage the series could get out of standard household traps. Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, however, proved that even the simple fall-down-the-stairs tricks had more life in them yet.

Finn Baxter was the protagonist of this 2012 straight to television movie, the last in the series to date. As is Home Alone tradition, he’s seen setting up his various booby traps earlier in the movie, and viewers can’t help but wonder what that sticky tape on the landing around the staircase is all about. It all comes to fruition in spectacular fashion, though, when Sinclair is wrapped up like a gift, taped together and then pushed down the stairs to come to rest under the Christmas tree. Simple as the fall is, it could quite easily have caused horrible injuries. When it comes to great takes on Santa Claus, Finn definitely doesn’t make the list.

The Icy Steps And The Hot Doorknob (Home Alone)

Harry Lyme burning his hand on the doorknob in Home Alone

Back at the McCallisters’ front door in the original, the short-tempered (and generally short) half of the Wet Bandits really ran the gauntlet. Everybody knows how lethal icy steps can be, and poor Harry suffered not one but two horrendous falls on them, landing flat on his back.

He’s lucky he even survived to reach the front door, but once he did, another deadly trap awaited: the doorknob had been heated to a vicious degree by a barbecue starter, which Kevin had activated from the inside of the door. On trying to turn it, Harry suffers a burn so strong he still has the distinctive scar in Lost In New York.

Marv’s Electrocution (Home Alone)

Marv Murchins electrocuted in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

The Home Alone movies have a special way with electricity. Before Alex wired up the outside of the home to fry Burton Jernigan and Earl Unger, Kevin gave Marv the shock of his life in Lost In New York.

In a previous trap, Marv found himself covered in paint. He attempts to wash some of it away, as Kevin knew he would, allowing the boy to spring the real trap: an arc welder connected to the water. Perhaps one of the deadliest traps in the series, even if it was played for dark comic effect (as with the unfortunate cat in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation).

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