Five Good (and Five Terrible) Movies Heavily Influenced by “Home Alone”

Dial Code Santa Claus (aka 3615 code Père Noël),” now available for collectors, is generally accepted as the original “Home Alone.” Also with the reboot now in the works over at Disney+, I thought it’d be fun to harp on Chris Columbus Christmas classic. Originally a huge hit when it arrived in theaters (my brother and I saw it in theaters with my dad three times!), the film inspired a huge slew of rip offs, and copycats from competing studios looking for their own piece of the pie.

I thought it’d be fun to look at four films heavily “inspired” by the classic that were Terrible and five that were actually quite good. There’s a good chance I’m missing a few, so feel free to let me know in the comments what I should have included.

Good: 3 Ninjas (1992)
One of my childhood favorites, this combines martial arts fun with classic “Home Alone” antics and almost never misses a beat. Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum are three brothers training in martial arts with their grandparents. When their grandfather is kidnapped, they use their skills to save him, all the while evading two very inept henchmen for hire. While not a masterpiece, “3 Ninjas” has a great time being as silly as possible, and takes a mid-way detour as the trio of brothers effortlessly beat the hell out of their would-be kidnappers.

Terrible: Blank Check (1994)
An eleven year old boy, who doesn’t want to earn his money, instead commits grand larceny by taking one million dollars from a group of criminals through a misplaced blank check. With said million dollars (still a ton of money in 1994!) he lives out his dreams of unsupervised fun. And he’s—uh—hit on by a woman in her twenties. There’s, of course, the big bumbling criminals taken out by his gadgets scene in the climax. At least there’s Tone Loc, and Miguel Ferrer. It doesn’t get anymore nineties than that.

Good: Remote (1993)
Charles Band trots out his own “Home Alone” centered on a young boy whose obsession with remote controlled vehicles and figures helps him battle a trio of bumbling criminals. When he’s stuck in a model home they’re hiding out in after a robbery, he uses his vehicles to stop them, and also match wits with them. It’s no masterpiece, but it gets the job done and centers on Charles Bands’ odd obsession with small objects. I often wonder if this is in the same universe as “Demonic Toys.”

Terrible: Richie Rich (1994)
Macaulay Culkin seems like the natural casting choice for Richie Rich. Despite being a bit too old for the role, he does the best he can for what is basically a bland adaptation. The comics and cartoon never gave much room for artistic expression anyway, but the movie is more about exploring every child’s fantasy (a personal McDonald’s in the house?! Rad!). It plays fast and loose with the comics canon (is there even official canon?) and does its best to build a fun family comedy. Culkin plays the generally likable adolescent bajillionaire pretty well. He also beats up a bunch of criminals in the climax with his high priced gadgets a la “Home Alone.”

Good: Dennis the Menace (1993)
A contemporary attempt to reboot the comic strip, “Dennis the Menace” is a shockingly hilarious effort with a great cast. Pretty much following the premise of the comics and TV show, Dennis is stuck with Mr. Wilson after his parents have to leave town. In his efforts to do good for Mr. Wilson, he ends up making him miserable. Matthau is great as Mr. Wilson, and the movie offers some healthy laughs and chuckles along with pratfalls and Dennis inadvertently destroying a bumbling criminal played by Christopher Lloyd.

Terrible: Baby’s Day Out (1994)
A rich couple’s toddler named Bink is targeted by a trio of inept thieves looking to keep it for ransom. But living in a universe guided by looney tunes principles, the thieves are brutally punished in their efforts to catch Bink result in disaster after disasters. Generally unpleasant, obnoxious, and loud, “Baby’s Day Out” is one long series of goofy physical gags that not even the likes of Joe Mantegna, and Joey Pants can save. The movie is only really notable because of the small controversy involving the baby falling over in a bag that had to be edited in future releases.

Good: You’re Next (2011)
Adam Wingard has taken to describing his many of his movies as odes to classic eighties movies, and has referred to “You’re Next” as a twisted, horror version of “Home Alone.” After being invited to a family reunion by her wealthy boyfriend, young Erin and his family are attacked by a pack of masked killers donning animal visages. Little do they know that Erin is a survivalist and proves to be their worst nightmare, as she turns the house in to a death trap to ensure her own escape. This movie is a masterpiece, and definitely fits in the ballpark of the “Home Alone” sub-sub-sub-genre.

Terrible: Playing Dangerous 2 (1996)
Kind of “Die Hard” meets “Home Alone” this blatant attempt at a cash in is a cheaply made, and absolutely horrendous adventure comedy. Kid genius Stewart Wolfe heads to college and lands a position replacing a programmer in a lab on some suspicious code. Things turn deadly and Stewart has to use his wiles and previous experience to survive, save the code and bring down terrorists. Even in its vain efforts to be different, the movie makes constant attempts at “Home Alone” style comedy and pratfalls and fails in absolutely every respect.

Good: Camp Nowhere (1994)
A bunch of pre-teens steal their parents’ money, and then buy an abandoned campground, and pretty much do whatever they want. No, there’s no masked maniac with a machete. They are, however, loosely supervised by Christopher Lloyd, and as they go wild, they soon realize that being without parents isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. Admittedly with some nostalgia goggles, “Camp Nowhere” is a fun, funny movie, and packs in the required “Home Alone” mishaps, including a climax where the kids use impossible resources to fool their parents. Christopher Lloyd even chips in with some physical comedy.

Terrible: Man of the House (1995)
A movie I hated even as a child, “Man of the House” centers on nineties star Jonathan Taylor Thomas who has to cope with the fact that his single mom is dating a new man. Chevy Chase plays the generally affable new man in her life who attempts to bond with him. But he makes it very hard by subjecting him to pranks and booby traps. There’s also a finale where he and his step dad have to evade a group of mobsters while on a boy scout camp out in the woods, so it covers that trope proudly, if poorly.