“Want to help me finish my snow fort?”

“I can’t right now. A team of art thieves are planning an assault on my new house. And I’m the only one who can defend it.”

“Oh, cool. See you later.”

It’s just a few weeks before Christmas, and the Baxters have just driven cross-country from California to their new home in Maine—a large, creepy house that some say is haunted. Parents Catherine (Ellie Harvie) and Curtis (Doug Murray) try to get the kids to broaden their horizons, but 10-year-old Finn (Christian Martyn) just wants to stay inside and play video games all day, while his teenage sister Alexis (Jodelle Ferland) is upset about the move and is constantly glued to her smartphone.

When strange noises and events start to happen around the house, Finn starts to believe the stories about their house being haunted, and becomes increasingly afraid of the basement. What he doesn’t know is that those sounds are due to a team of bumbling art thieves scoping out the home, looking for a lost Edvard Munch painting that was rumored to be possessed by one of the home’s former owners, notorious bootlegger Jimmy “Dead Leg” Gravano. Sinclair (Malcolm McDowell) is obsessed with finding this painting as he claims to have a personal connection to its subject. Joining him are longtime partner-in-crime Jessica (Debi Mazar)—who is emotionally obsessed with her recent break-up with her former partner/boyfriend—and dimwitted newcomer/safecracker Mr. Hughes (Eddie Steeples).

The Baxters get invited to a party at mountain top home of Catherine’s new boss (Edward Asner), and the parents leave the kids home alone. Finn discovers the truth about the art thieves, and their plan to enter the home that night. So he plans and executes an elaborate series of traps and hijinks to try to stop the crooks.

Home Alone: The Holiday Heist may be the fifth installment in the Home Alone franchise, but it does a great job recapturing the spirit and fun of the original film while also feeling fresh and new. As with all of the Home Alone movies, you can’t take it too seriously, and just need to go along for the ride. Of course there is no way Finn could possibly plan and execute all of his traps so perfectly or know what the robbers are going to do, but that’s part of the fun of it. And yes, a lot of the traps could actually be extremely dangerous and possibly kill someone, but these films use Three Stooges/cartoon-style violence where no one actually gets hurt.

This film is really a reboot of the original Home Alone film with some added modern elements. For example, while Finn is executing his plan, he remains in contact with fellow online gamer Simon (Bill Turnbull) via his Xbox 360 headset. While Simon tries to give Finn some tips on how to shore up the perimeter of his home, he thinks Finn is describing a video game and not real life. This leads to some hilarious misunderstandings and twists. The film also makes a lot of fun shout-outs to some of the original Home Alone‘s most iconic scenes.

Overall, I found the acting quite good—from the Baxters who felt like a real family, to the bumbling crooks, to the supporting characters of Simon and oddball neighbor Mason (Peter DaCunha) who help Finn with his plan. The film is a lot of fun for fans of the original as well as new audiences. I think kids will especially enjoy it!

I first saw this film last holiday season when it premiered on the HD ABC Family channel. Rewatching it again here, it didn’t feel like a TV-movie—I didn’t notice any fade-to-black moments where commercials would have been. While there is no Blu-ray release offered for this title, I didn’t really find any problems with the picture or notice. The audio track makes great use of the different channels. In one scene when Finn is running back and forth, the left and right channels are used to emphasize this, adding depth to the viewing experience. As for bonus features, this DVD contains absolutely none, which is a shame! I would have loved to hear from the creators about rebooting such a successful franchise.

What’s Included on the DVD:

Film (90 min):

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DD 5.1, French DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Closed Captioned

Extras:

None. Playback begins with trailers for Free Birds, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Heart of the Country, and The Ultimate Life on DVD/Blu-ray, but there is no menu item to re-watch these afterwards.

Final Thoughts:

While the DVD contains no bonus features, the film itself is an entertaining reboot of the Home Alone franchise which recaptures the fun and spirit of the original film. Fans of the series will enjoy the film’s nods to the original Home Alone, and kids will love the pranks, hijinks and bumbling crooks. I recommend checking this film out for some holiday family fun.