The first film of the legendary family franchise “Home Alone” was released in 1990 and won the hearts of the audience with a kind and funny storyline in the best traditions of nineties cinema, a charming protagonist performed by Macaulay Culkin and of course, the unique spirit of Christmas… Eight-year-old Kevin McAlister, accidentally forgotten at home when his large family flew to Paris for the Christmas holidays, and managed to fight off the robbers, quickly became a favorite of adults and a role model for many children.
The sequels following the second film, including the 2021 restart, were met by critics rather coolly, especially if they were talking about completely different characters or the action in them did not take place on Christmas Day. However, outside of this franchise, there are still quite a few good motion pictures, similar to the classic films “Home Alone”, and each of them is able to give the viewer vivid emotions and pleasant impressions.
Million for Christmas
Director: James Orr
Genre: Comedy, Family, Crime
Year of issue: 2007
Kind and bright cinema in the best traditions of Christmas comedies. The family is at the center of the action Sanders, who were unlucky this year: after the dismissal of the head of the family, they are forced to move from Los Angeles to a small Canadian town, and their mother has to stay in the same place. To entertain the children, the father organizes them a big trip to the local supermarket… And who would have thought that there were guys find a bag with a million dollars…
While the children are deciding how to dispose of the wealth that has fallen on them, the real owners of the money suddenly appear – this is bandits who go hunting for kids… But the younger generation of the Sanders family is also not going to give up so easily. I wonder what the police inspector is playing here Tim Curry, familiar to many for his role as the evil concierge from “Home Alone 2”.
3615 Santa Claus code
Director: Rene Manzor
Genre: Action, Thriller, Horror
Year of issue: 1989
Can you imagine the film “Home Alone” not as a good comedy, but as intense thriller and drama? However, in view of the release date – 1989 – this French film is unlikely to be really scary, and thanks to the Christmas theme, you can still watch it on New Year’s Eve. The story begins when psychopath disguised as Santa Claus, enters the house of the precocious boy Thomas and his grandfather.
The boy’s grandfather is almost blind and has diabetes, so the child has to fight off the criminal on his own, while also protecting the old man. Fortunately, Thomas is a real child prodigy who, disguised as Rambo, prepares to fight back the intruder, inventing sophisticated traps all over the huge mansion. True, unlike Kevin McCallister, our hero did not know about the attack in advance, so he has to invent ways of defense literally on the go.
Dennis the Tormentor
Director: Nick Castle
Genre: Comedy, Family
Year of issue: 1993
A sparkling family comedy based on the comics of the same name. Main character – five year old boy Dennis, which is a real punishment for everyone around. Unlike the same Kevin, who deliberately designed traps for bandits, this kid simply seeks to deserve the attention of adults, but with his tricks he brings on even greater troubles. He gets especially bad neighbor, mister wilson…
And how can a movie like Home Alone not do without a dangerous criminal? In this story, he also is – this bandit named Sam performed by Christopher Lloydstealing small children. But the maniac did not even suspect what grief in the face of Dennis he brought upon himself.
How to deal with your father
Director: Howard Deutsch
Genre: Comedy, Family, Crime
Year of issue: 1994
And in this film the main role is played by himself Macaulay Culkin, and even if this is not the brightest film in his career, it still has a good message and also deserves attention. Like “Home Alone”, the film also has a tie around criminal topics… 11-year-old Timmy was raised by his aunt, his mother died, and his father was in prison for a long time for robbery. When he is finally released, the aunt, who is about to get married, hands the boy into the hands of a negligent father.
Timmy witnesses another robbery. The hero of Culkin shows miracles of ingenuity here too, hiding the loot and setting a condition for his father and his accomplices: he will return everything, if the father spends more time with him, takes you to museums, to baseball, and so on. Meanwhile, a police officer begins to follow the robbers.
Richie Rich
Director: Donald Petrie
Genre: Comedy
Year of issue: 1994
Last child’s role Macaulay Culkin before the 9-year hiatus in his acting career. Everyone who watched this film in childhood must have dreamed of the same thing that the protagonist had. Richie – a billion dollar fortune, cars, own amusement park and even his own McDonald’s in a separate room. At the same time, Richie is an ordinary, not too spoiled boy who has there is everything except one – friends… Fortunately, one day he still manages to make friends with the guys who become his faithful companions.
But here, too, it does not do without confronting the villain: an insidious crook rigged a plane crashto ruin Richie’s parents and take their fortune for himself. The film also has a sequel, Richie’s Wacky Christmas, albeit with different actors and on a smaller scale.
Christmas present
Director: Brian Levant
Genre: Comedy, Family
Year of issue: 1996
Another kind comedy with a real Christmas spirit produced by Chris Columbus, the director of the first two parts of “Home Alone”. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays here in the comedic role of Howard Langston’s unlucky clerk father, who, due to his work, spends too little time with his wife and son Jamie. To make amends, he promises to bring his son for Christmas the most popular toy – Turboman…
But the trouble is: Turbomen are already sold out everywhere, and to find him in the city, Howard will have to try very hard, and even enter into a confrontation with a competitor – the postman Myron Larabi, who also promised his child this toy as a gift.
Difficult child
Director: Dennis Dugan
Genre: Comedy, Family
Year of issue: 1990
Another hilarious comedy in the spirit of Home Alone, in which a little fidget is again at the center of events. Seven-year-old Junior is a real impliving in an orphanage, but due to his terrible nature, the boy has already been brought back by his adoptive parents several times. It seems that the management of the boarding school no longer has any hope of getting rid of the bully, but at this time he is adopted by a modest salesman at a sporting goods store Ben Healy and his selfish wife Florence.
At first, Junior gives Ben too much trouble, but later the man realizes that the boy simply lacks love and attention. The atmosphere heats up when he also enters the stage escaped criminal nicknamed “the killer in the butterfly”from which Junior took an example.
Baby on a walk, or crawling from gangsters
Director: Patrick Reed Johnson
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Crime
Year of issue: 1994
As you can see from this collection, among the comedies of the nineties, which to this day evoke nostalgic feelings in us, there were quite a few films based on the scheme: bandits, a child opposing them and endless funny tortures of the unfortunate who dared to challenge him. In this film, the main character is much younger than Kevin McAlister and other “colleagues in the shop”: this baby binkwho is from a wealthy family for the purpose of ransom kidnapped by a trinity of loser thugs…
However, the criminals did not expect the baby to give them so much trouble. And while they are fleeing from the trouble that has fallen on them, Bink travels all over townexploring the world like the hero of his favorite children’s book.
Curly Sue
Director: John Hughes
Genre: Comedy, Family
Year of issue: 1991
The last directorial work of John Hughes, who worked on many American family comedies with children, including the three parts “Home Alone”. In this film, he took the familiar classic story created by Charlie Chaplin – The Tramp and the Kid, rejected by the whole world, travel, gradually finding a family and shelter. Here these images are presented by a charming baby Sue and her cheating father Bill…
Bill and Sue make a living by small scams. One day fate brings them together with a divorce lawyer Gray Ellisonwho is imbued with sympathy for them and wants to help. But her boyfriend Walker, harboring anger at them, tries to prevent this.
Mouse hunt
Director: Gore Verbinski
Genre: Comedy, Family
Year of issue: 1997
And in this stunning comedy the two unlucky main characters are rebuffed not by a child, but by a mouse, but he builds traps no less sophisticated than in “Home Alone”, providing the audience with hilarious scenes and fun. Brothers Lars and Ernie Schmunz inherited from their father not only a twine factory, but also an old mansion on the outskirts of the city. The stakes go up when it turns out that this house can be very profitably sold at auction…
There is only one problem – the mouse living there, who does not want to leave her refuge, but the brothers just need to get rid of her. What at first seemed like a child’s play is gradually turning into a life-and-death battle.