Every Home Alone Movie Ranked By How Crazy The Traps Are

When it comes to the holidays, a classic series to look back on is the Home Alone series. Throughout the years, there have been a total of six movies in the franchise. Some are sequels while others are standalone pieces. Regardless of where they stand in the various timelines, they're all centered around one theme: home intrusion defense. From the original traps crafted by Kevin McAllister to the ghost house ruse of Finn Baxter, the Home Alone franchise has never shied away from creativity. So which of the six movies offer the best, most elaborate traps?

6. Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House

Image via 20th Television

Unfortunately, the movie that had the most potential for creative shenanigans simply falls flat. With by far the least amount of traps of any movie in the series, Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House takes place primarily in a smart home. Anyone could see the limitless potential for anti-thief traps to be utilized, however the smart house is primarily used for opening/closing doors, and the farthest they take the concept is to spin a revolving bookcase around like a merry-go-round. Another scene worth noting is when Kevin (the same character from the first two movies, but this time played by Mike Weinberg instead of Macaulay Culkin) hoses down the bad guys with a super strong shower head, with enough water to flood the large entrance of the mansion. While the movie overall has some good highlights, it unfortunately leaves much to be desired when it comes to the deployment of traps.

5. Home Sweet Home Alone

Image via Disney+

The most recent addition to the Home Alone franchise, Home Sweet Home Alone attempts to revitalize the concept with some new twists. While some of the traps are unique, like the dart gun thumbtack sentries and the modded poolball gun, the movie also reuses traps that the previous entries created. While there is no harm in remaking traps from past entries, especially when the franchise is six movies long at this point, seeing the same traps used over and over becomes quite lackluster. This movie shines when it is using fresh ideas like Max Mercer (Archie Yates) pulling a fishing rod line across the trim of his home to drop large icicles onto one of the intruders. Credit is also due to this movie for being the first one to implement LEGO as a floor hazard, something I am sure everyone thought of when watching their first Home Alone movie.

4. Home Alone: The Holiday Heist

Released in 2012, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist revolves around thieves attempting to break into a secret bar located in the basement of the Baxter family home. When Finn finds out his home is under attack, he takes matters into his own hands and places some unique traps that hadn't been seen before in the series. One notable mention is when he makes gingerbread cookies with spicy icing and a nice glass of glue to wash it down with. Another new trap takes a spin on a classic: small objects on the floor as a walking hazard. At least, that is what the large Christmas tree beads on the floor look like until a snowplow activates and starts throwing the beads at the nosey intruder. By far the most elaborate trap in the film is when Finn turns his own room into a haunted home for the leader of the gang, getting the old man to scream that he finally believes in ghosts before he runs out of the room in a panic.

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3. Home Alone

Being the first movie in the franchise means that Home Alone set the standard for what a good trap is. Who could forget the classics such as the doorknob that Kevin made so hot that it permanently branded an 'M' into Harry's hand, or when Marv gets a face full of iron from Kevin's lightbulb fake out? Many of these traps went on to be used in multiple future films, sometimes in a new and creative way, other times, not so much. While the first movie doesn't have any traps that really stand out as above and beyond, it does succeed in establishing what a good trap is and what to expect from the films that came after.

2. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

A good sequel will take the concepts of the first movie and improve upon them, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York does just that. With a new environment and even more traps, Kevin yet again finds a way to outsmart the self-proclaimed "Sticky Bandits." One trap in particular that gets improved on is the flaming door trap. Now recontextualized as a light switch flame trap, what really sets it apart as an upgrade is Kevin's devious idea to fill the nearby toilet with a flammable liquid instead of water. That way, when Harry dunks his head into said toilet to extinguish the flames, what instead happens is an explosion that plays out for massive laughs. Another honorable mention, while not directly a trap made by Kevin, is at the end of the film where Kevin's new friend the pigeon lady (Brenda Fricker) pours bird seed onto the now literally sticky bandits, thus summoning her army of birds to overwhelm the crooks so Kevin can escape.

1. Home Alone 3

While Home Alone 3 is often criticized for taking the franchise away from the McAllister timeline, and it certainly goes above and beyond in the stakes, it also delivers on the best traps in the franchise. By far one of the best scenes is when the film subverts expectations on a trap placed by the child genius Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz). The scene shows two of the home intruders successfully disabling what they think is a dumbbell trap. Unbeknownst to them, cutting the wire actually triggered a second trap that sends a large piece of furniture flying out of the attic and onto the assailants. However, just when you think the trap is all finished, the dumbbell gets triggered anyway, meaning that the film not only subverted expectations on how a trap would play out, but it also gives a bonus to the trap at the end, allowing the audience to have the satisfaction delivered twice over. This is not even mentioning traps such as the trampoline pool trap, the closet sucker punch trap, and the adhesive-filled Mega Blocks carts. It also helps that this is the only movie in the franchise so far to have four primary antagonists, meaning that more time is devoted to traps spread amongst all of them.

Regardless of whether or not you think the new movies are bad or that they should have stopped after the first two films, it can't be ignored that each movie brings a unique take on the concept of a child protecting their home, and each one gives unique traps for audiences to laugh at as the bad guys hopelessly fall for each and every one of them. It is a creative film idea that will likely be done again and again for years to come, and while the films themselves may not always hit, the traps certainly will.