Top 10 Home Alone Traps

This is it, don't get scared now. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we're counting down the Top 10 Home Alone Traps.

For this list we're looking at the most creative ways Kevin McCallister's foiled the wet bandits, from playful tricks to borderline guerilla warfare tactics that put Harry and Marv through the wringer.

#10: Rope Burn
"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992)

Sometimes the most obvious pain is the best option. After finally getting to the top of the house, Harry and Marv find out Kevin is already on the ground, and chase him down a rope. What they don't know is the rope is soaked in kerosene, which Kevin is quick to light when the pair are halfway down. What makes this trap great is the length the bandits go to avoid the fire, letting go and falling several stories in the process. The final punishment comes when a barrage of paint cans follow them down, dousing them in cold water.

#9: Orna-mental
"Home Alone" (1990)

What do Marv and John McClane have in common? A real need for shoes. After Kevin's tar trap forces Marv to lose his footwear, the bandit decides to sneak in through the window. Unfortunately, he forgets to look before he leaps, and plunges his feet down on some easily shattered Christmas ornaments. The trap works as a double whammy when Marv's initial reaction from the pain forces him to step on more ornaments just to keep moving. A testament to Kevin's style, the ornament trap manages to harm the Wet Bandits while tying in to the spirit of Christmas.

#8: Too Hot to Handle
"Home Alone" (1990)

Just like in marketing, when it comes to setting traps, it's all about branding. When Harry finally forces his way up the McCallister's front steps, he's all too smug to notice the tiny details right under his nose. As he goes to open the door, he misses the doorknob’s orange glow, and grabs it for the shock – or in this case the burn – of his life. He quickly crawls back down the steps and throws his hand in snow to cool it down. When he pulls it out, he discovers the family's M branded right into his hand. The mark even follows him to the sequel, making it the only trap to permanently damage him.

#7: Tool Time
"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992)

When the bandits go up against gravity, gravity always wins. After a very brief respite, Harry and Marv hear a thumping noise from behind a door. Wondering what's causing the sound, the two press their ears up to the door as it cuts to a tool cabinet tumbling towards them. The fear in their faces before the door bursts open is the cherry on top, before the chest pushes them across the floor. Their noses may be broken, but at least Marv correctly identifies what the sound is.

#6: On Ice
"Home Alone" (1990)

That’s one way to give someone the slip. For his first trick, Kevin hoses his staircases, turning them into a traction nightmare. When Marv heads for the basement door, the slippery steps practically usher him down, although not in the gentlest way. Cleverly using his crowbar to prop himself up, he almost gets inside before slipping again and having it hit him on the head. Harry has it even worse, taking two spills on the front steps, even landing in a backwards roll that’d make a gymnast jealous.

#5: What A Hole
"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992)

Once again, Marv’s lack of situational awareness leads to his downfall. As he triumphantly enters Kevin's New York hideout, he utters some famous last words and celebrates his hard work. Excitedly taking his first step in the house, Marv somehow misses the giant pit right in front of him, and falls face first to the basement floor below. After bone cracks that sound more like a cement-mixer than a human skeleton, Marv finally gets a look at how he ended up downstairs. Even he has to give Kevin credit for this one.

#4: Dumb As a Doorknob
"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992)

The front door is never a safe way into Kevin McCallister's house, but some people never learn. Waking up from his brick induced coma, Marv stumbles up the stairs to make his way in. To his confusion, the doorknob pulls out with yards of string attached, which Marv proceeds to unravel. Turning around to give the string a hardy yank, Marv is shot in the butt by a jury rigged staple gun. Thanks to Kevin's brilliant engineering, the gun shoots him the more he squirms in pain, and each staple is more painful than the last.

#3: Paint It Black...and Blue
"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992)

While some people learn from their mistakes, sometimes it’s still not enough. When climbing the staircase in Kevin's fortified New York house, the bandits suddenly remember their unfortunate paint can attack from the last Christmas raid and adapt accordingly. As Kevin proceeds to aimlessly throw the cans at them, the pair can barely keep it together, believing they’ve actually outsmarted him. But then Kevin reveals his true trap, a giant metal column that swings down, knocking them all the way to the basement. Kevin's sadistic nature takes it one step further, as he cuts the column loose to let it hit the bandits one last time.

#2: That Sinking Feeling
"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992)

Even by “Home Alone” standards, this trap is pretty electrifying. When Marv tries to wash off the paint from Kevin's previous trap, his choice of sink couldn't have been worse. As he grabs the faucets, Kevin activates an arc welder connected to the sink. Marv's screams get wilder and wilder as Kevin cranks up the juice, puffing out Marv's hair and even turning him into a cartoonish skeleton. As dark as the trap is, it's hard not to laugh as Marv keeps shaking, even after he lets go of the faucets.


Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Glued and Feathered
"Home Alone" (1990)


Pumping Iron
"Home Alone" (1990)


Nailed It
"Home Alone" (1990)

#1: Baptism By Fire
"Home Alone" (1990)

Deciding to avoid continued burns from the heated front door, Harry goes around back to enter through the kitchen, going out of the frying pan and into the fire...literally. Harry’s burst through the door activates a blowtorch that sets his head on fire and gives us this timeless reaction. While he manages to put it out with snow the first time, his attempt to extinguish it with toilet bowl water in New York ends with explosive results thanks to some kerosene. And yet through it all, the famously foul-mouthed Joe Pesci manages to keep himself from cursing. Now that’s acting!