There are few movies that get me in the holiday spirit as much as Home Alone does. I’m not kidding! As a kid, I always imagined myself being as clever as Macaulay Culkin, rigging my house with booby traps, holding down the fort at home. But do those booby traps actually do anything? The Week took a look at the injuries the robbers sustained throughout the movie and asked a medical expert to see what kind of damage the traps would have had.
You remember a few of those hilarious booby traps and comical injuries to the burglars Marv (Daniel Stern) and Harry (Joe Pesci) even if you haven’t seen the movie in years. The iron to the face. The blowtorch to the scalp. Walking barefoot on Christmas ornaments. So how much damage would these traps cause? Here’s the doctors description of the iron to the face damage:
“Let’s estimate the distance from the first floor to the basement at 15 feet, and assume the steam iron weighs 4 pounds. And note that the iron strikes Marv squarely in the mid-face. This is a serious impact, with enough force to fracture the bones surrounding the eyes. This is also known as a ‘blowout fracture,’ and can lead to serious disfigurement and debilitating double vision if not repaired properly.”
Oof! That’s brutal. Check out The Week to see more detailed analysis of an all time favourite movie. I’m totally going to watch Home Alone again. [The Week]