Movies | More than 13,000 HS readers voted: Home Alone is the best Christmas movie

Home alone (1990) is the best Christmas movie in history, say HS readers.

HS asked readers to vote for their favorite from pre-selected Christmas movies. More than 13,000 votes were cast.

of Chris Columbus directed by and by John Hughes scripted by Home alone got 18.7 percent of the votes.

The film is about Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), which, as the name suggests, stays at home alone while the rest of the family travels to Paris for Christmas. An 8-year-old boy enjoying his surprising freedom has to get into trouble when the burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) are trying to break into the house.

However, the boy's cleverness and the traps he builds mess up the burglars' plans.

Movie premiered in Finland on December 21, 1990.

HS film critic Helena Ylänen was sympathetic to the film at the time, although he noted that the work of screenwriter John Hughes seemed calculated.

Ylänen describes the film's main star, Macaulay Culkin, as a “sweet kid”, who reminds him of the American classic series Happy days the actor Ron Howard's as a child.

“There's a lot of fun in the film. The children were most attracted by the fact that the boy managed to embarrass the adults quite cleverly a couple of times”, he writes, referring to the children's audience at the press screening.

“The film also has a theme. It shows how the youngest in the family immediately starts to manage when one of the older ones is not helping or arranging”, Ylänen concludes his assessment.

The film turned out to be a huge international success. It produced at least 476 million dollars (432 million euros) worldwide, writes the American magazine Variety.

The popularity also led to sequels. Culkin still stars in the second part completed in 1992, but he is not seen in the later parts of the film series.

The first one from the age of 10 at the time of the film's release Through the movies, Culkin became one of the biggest child stars of the 1990s.

Fame also had its price. For example, in 1995, Culkin's parents argued in their divorce proceedings not only about custody, but also about their son's money.

“If I were a child, I would want my parents to fight for my custody because they love me, not because of my wealth. This is a little depressing,” Home Alone director Chris Columbus said at the time of the Los Angeles Times by.

In the mid-1990s, Culkin took a break from acting. Over the years, there were rumors about Culkin's alleged drug addiction and mental health issues. Culkin has spoken about his troubled relationship with his father in his adulthood interviews.

For this millennium, Culkin has only done occasional roles.

At the beginning of December, he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has shared a picture on Instagram where he is posing next to his star.

HS Christmas movies in the survey on the subject, the action film received the second most votes Die Hard – just over my dead body (1988). by John McTiernan plays the lead role in the film he is directing Bruce Willis. It got 14.4 percent of the votes.

The third highest number of votes, 10.9 percent, went to an animated film Santa Claus and the witchdrum (1996). It's based on Mauri Kunnas to the children's book of the same name published in 1995.

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