Look, we all thought the main protagonist of Home Alone was a genius for subjecting the two robbers to multiple traps and accidents in the movie. However, many fans realize that Kevin McCallister’s booby traps would have done more damage in real life than what was depicted in the film. Vsauce’s Jake Roper tested some of the traps in real life, and the effects are far more frightening:
In a recreation of the McCallister home, Roper set out to test the hand-burning hot doorknob, the swinging paint cans both Wet Bandits received to their faces, and the crowbar to the chest that Marv doles out to Harry.
The results of the tests are… frightening, to say the least. Turns out, the doorknob is substantially more dangerous to Kevin than to the bandits. The temperatures needed to transfer enough heat to the outside knob would likely melt the door, or at least set it on fire. A crowbar to the chest would send Harry to the morgue. That blow could puncture his lungs and heart, but he’d already be dead. That paint can trap would have definitely killed Harry and Marv. Roper’s video demonstrates how a swinging paint could knock your head clean off your shoulders.
Image via Nerdist