‘Home Alone’ injuries could kill

Home Alone, the story of an 8 year old who’s accidentally abandoned by his family and forced to defend his home against a pair of dimwitted burglars, is a modern day classic.

He does everything from shooting them with a BB gun, to taking them out with flying paint cans. When Kevin McCallister is left home alone, he must defend his house from the wet bandits.

But would anyone be able to survive those injuries? And go right back for more?

CHCH News got ER doctor Brett Belchetz to weigh in on several scenes. Remember when Harry tried to open the door?

“First of all he didn’t notice there was a glowing red doorknob, that would be a sign to most people: don’t touch it!”

“This is the kind of temperature that actually melts tissues. If you were to hold your hand on there so you are talking about third degree burns potentially melting away his hand, I don’t care that he is putting it in the snow right away – that is never going to be a useable hand ever again in his life.”

What about when the iron falls and whacks Marv in the face? “That is enough impact that if it hits your face, it would fracture every bone in your face.”

And the blow torch that roasted Harry’s noggin? “About 5 or 6 seconds of flame directly to your scalp is enough to burn right through your scalp, right through your skin, through the fat underneath and even into the bone so you are talking third degree burns. This is a severe disfiguring life-long injury.”

It’s highly unlikely Marv and Harry would be able to survive all of Kevin’s booby traps. He’d likely be arrested for murder.

“I totally understand self-defence but he has killed these guys about five times over so I am going to say this is one angry child”

It’s a film that requires quite a suspension of disbelief. But what better time for that than Christmas?

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated Dr Belchetz’s first name. This has been corrected. However CHCH News is not responsible for any reduced enjoyment of the Home Alone films as a result of this story.