We just basically got an R-rated version of Home Alone thanks to Jack Quaid’s new action movie Novocaine. The original 1990 Home Alone is a classic in many ways that still holds up to this day. One of the best elements has always been the finale where Kevin has to defend his house from the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv. Thanks to the elaborate series of booby traps and obstacles cleverly placed around the McCallister residence, Home Alone‘s finale is one that’s filled with a surprising amount of violence and pain, but it’s all scaled down to a PG setting.
The PG version of Home Alone has always been enough for me. I’d never seriously considered what an R-rated version of the movie would be like, even though that idea has been dreamed about by others. There are fan edits and shorts imagining what the family-friendly Home Alone movies would be like with more blood and violence fit for an R-rating. Disney and 20th Century are never going to make an R-rated version of Home Alone, but there’s now a new action movie that offers a glimpse at what it would be like.
Novocaine’s Booby Trap House Briefly Turns The Movie Into An R-Rated Home Alone
Jack Quaid’s Character Encounters Several ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Traps
Novocaine is a 2025 action movie starring Jack Quaid as a man who cannot feel pain, as he’s diagnosed with a real disorder. It has an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes. As the movie unfolds, Nathan Caine goes to a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ robber’s house to try and find his co-worker and love interest. What he doesn’t know is the criminal booby-trapped his house before the bank heist. Nathan proceeds to be stabbed in the back with a mace, sH๏τ in the leg with an arrow, and strung up upside down by a rope all due to the traps in the house.
It’s through this sequence that Novocaine essentially becomes an R-rated version of Home Alone. Jack Quaid’s Nathan Caine takes the place of Harry and Marv as people breaking into someone’s home and encountering several hidden traps. The biggest difference with Novocaine is that it doesn’t need to downplay the violence and shy away from the bloody injuries these traps can provide. I couldn’t help but think about it being an R-rated Home Alone as the sequence unfolded and more hidden traps were revealed. It helped make the sequence one of the best in Novocaine for me.
Novocaine Shows How Easily Harry & Marv Really Got It In Home Alone
It Could’ve Been A Lot Worse For The Wet Bandits
Harry and Marv received their fair share of injuries in Home Alone thanks to Kevin’s traps. Harry had the top of his head lit on fire and burned his hand on the door knob, and Marv got a H๏τ iron to the face and stepped on a nail. They both were hit in the face by swinging paint cans and fell to the ground after Kevin cut a rope to the treehouse. But ultimately, none of these traps drew blood (that we see) or had potentially ᴅᴇᴀᴅly consequences. The same is not true for Novocaine and Jack Quaid’s character.
It all makes Harry and Marv’s injuries look a bit more mild
Nathan Caine very well could’ve died in Novocaine as a result of the traps he encounters. The mace may have killed him if it struck his chest or head instead of back. He would’ve died of natural causes even if he hadn’t been saved from the rope. Furthermore, the arrow to the leg hindered his ability to walk. Nathan is even tortured after all this by the brother after getting caught. It all makes Harry and Marv’s injuries look a bit more mild. If Kevin’s traps were anything like what Nathan encountered in Novocaine, the Wet Bandits probably would’ve died.
