Home Alone might sound like a hyperactive eight-year-old's dream come true, but it's an absolute nightmare for Harry and Marv.
This '90s holiday classic is the story of two strangers who unwittingly enter a house of horrors during the Christmas season. Trapped with a vengeful recluse, they have to rely on their wits to survive his fiendish traps and sadistic nature to make it through the night.
The description above isn't that of a sinister slasher film, but rather one of the most beloved family-friendly movies of the decade. Home Alone might sound like a hyperactive eight-year-old's dream come true, but it's an absolute nightmare for Harry and Marv. Depending on one's perspective, the movie can either be a delightful slapstick comedy or a twisted horror movie.
Kevin's A Desperate Character
Kevin might look like a cute and innocent kid, but that's only a physical portion of his personality. Just as Chucky might have looked like just a doll, this little troublemaker looks like just a kid with a big imagination. Underneath that blonde crop of hair and innocent eyes is a viciously repressed time bomb.
Right from the start of the movie, Kevin is a character who's at the end of his tether. He's been pushed around and put-upon by one family member too many. Similar to characters like Jason Voorhees or Leatherface, all he needs is an outlet for his repressed aggressions, finding it in Harry and Marv.
He’s Vindictive For A Kid
One thing that comes out of the woodwork after rewatching the film is how tenaciously vindictive Kevin can be at times. His first thoughts of his predicament are how rotten his family has been to him, then he immediately goes about getting a little slice of payback by raiding their stuff. This streak, however, doesn't just end at his family.
From scaring the daylights out of some random pizza man to stealing his brother's "life Savings," Kevin's got a mean streak a mile wide to go with that inventive imagination of his. He's not someone most would want to make angry.
His First Instinct Is To Fight Not Run
"This is my house, I have to defend it." That's not just a little boy's attempt to be brave in the face of impending danger, that's Kevin's warning to any would-be crooks not to test him. Any normal kid in his position would try to call a neighbor or the police, or—at the very least—find somewhere to hide. Not Kevin.
On one hand, his fearlessness is commendable. He shows more bravery than most adults. There's also something unsettlingly devious about the lengths he goes to in the name of self-preservation. Setting a series of deadly traps is certainly a bit overkill.
He Immediately Chooses The Offensive
Self-defense is one thing, especially with home invaders. However, Kevin's idea isn't just to defend himself, it's to bring the pain when the Wet Bandits decide to try and break into the McAllister home. It starts small at first, but his machinations get more and more offensive as the movie progresses.
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It's not that Kevin woke up and chose violence, he's a good kid deep down, but the fact it was his first instinct speaks volumes. He's not exactly slow to anger in this case either.
His Inventive Nature Is Jigsaw Worthy
If Kevin were ten or twenty years older and someone saw him lay out a handmade blueprint for a trap in his father's garage, the cast of Criminal Minds would be on his tail in a millisecond. There's even been a fan theory floating around that Kevin is Jigsaw as a young boy, and the evidence is certainly there.
From something as simple as an iron attached to a pull-string to a literal flamethrower triggered by the door, Kevin's insidious ideas go from zero to one-hundred fast. Keep in mind, these aren't things that would just incapacitate someone either.
His Traps Could Have Been Fatal
Kevin uses a blow torch, tar, iron spikes, and instruments of blunt force to rain a very "merry" Christmas on Harry and Marv. Considering how much head trauma, burns, and various other lacerations the bandits receive over maybe an hour, it's a miracle they weren't gravely injured by the time the police show up.
While it's true that this is a John Hughes slapstick comedy, if any of these scenarios were applied to real-world situations with real-world physics, Kevin might be looking at manslaughter charges. Not everyone is as cartoony as Joe Pesci, after all.
He Never Calls The Police
Here's where things start to take a seriously chilling turn. At no point in the film does Kevin ever consider calling the police until he has to. And even when he does, he uses a false name and attempts a fake voice. That might be just his boyish bravery, but that's also the confidence of a serial killer in training.
He doesn't even think to call them towards the beginning either. Even after he's had his fun eating junk food and watching violent movies, Kevin never once goes near the phone to call out to someone. He might be relishing the freedom and the solitude, but he also might be plotting other evil schemes.
He’s Merciless
"You guys give up? Or are ya thirsty for more?" Once more, Kevin's violent tendencies rear their ugly head. Not only does he lay elaborate traps for the bandits, but he also makes sure that they trigger and suffer by every one of them. A spiked staircase and a red-hot doorknob weren't enough, he had to put them through a freaky funhouse of torture.
And it doesn't stop at the traps, but the time, effort, and dedication he spends in laying out and setting each trap, making sure Harry and Marv run a clear path through all of it.
His Lack Of Remorse
The offensive tactics, the over-zealous attacks, and the deviously funny traps could all be forgiven if it wasn't for one big detail. Kevin delivers his brand of home defense with a sadistic glee seen in many a twisted slasher character. He has no mercy, no guilt, and absolutely no remorse.
He's not just prepared to do whatever's necessary to leave the Wet Bandits with more than a few bruises, he's glad to do it. He's practically giddy about the damage he's dishing out. If sending them to jail wasn't good enough for him, he might very well have sent them to the morgue.
He Never Forgives, He Never Forgets
It's not just the Wet Bandits that invoke Kevin's wrath but his mother does too, and not just at the beginning when tempers are high after the pizza fight either. Kevin is pushed to his breaking point in the first act of the film, plus he's neglected by everyone under that roof when they fly to Paris. That's not an offense he's going to let slide.
Even at the film's happy ending when he gets his wish of being reunited with his mom, he doesn't immediately run into her arms. That look he gives her when they first lock eyes isn't a forgiving one. It's a look that says "I know what you did, you know what you did, and I won't forget it." They're all smiles at the end, but Kevin's still cold-blooded underneath.
