Better Watch Out (Chris Peckover, 2016)

What if Kevin McCallister was so much worse than a little jerk?

[Warning: some spoilers were necessary to discuss this film.]

Better Watch Out is not an especially Christmassy movie. Sure, it’s set vaguely around the Christmas time. There are fairy lights and Christmas trees. There is snow on the ground. But there’s not really any reference to the fact it’s Christmas — and there’s certainly nothing that necessitates it being set at Christmas.

However, the fact that it is means that it benefits from being more closely associated with the beloved holiday film, Home Alone. I’ll get back to that.

The logline for Better Watch Out says it’s about a teenage girl (Ashley) who must defend the kid (Luke) she’s babysitting when intruders break into their house — or so she thinks.

The first half of the film largely plays like a standard home invasion horror movie: Ashley and Luke are trapped in the house while someone outside escalates from merely trying to scare them to violently attacking them.

A pizza they didn’t order is delivered to their door. The power goes out. A figure with a weapon stalks past the window.

Yes, these plot beats are standard, but the movie does a great job of dutifully cycling through them, patiently ratcheting up the tension, and then wonderfully pulling the rug out from beneath us.

Plot twist!

I debated whether or not to include spoilers in this recommendation, as I generally try to avoid them. But there’s no other way to sell this movie without giving away the midpoint twist because, brother, it’s a doozy. Rest assured, there are still plenty more stunning twists and turns that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat throughout.

Luke is the bad guy.

He’s a despicable, nasty, 12-year-old psychopath. Early on in the film, we learn that he has a crush on Ashley and that he hopes to woo her over the course of the evening. What we don’t realize is just how demented he really is — nor just how many lines he is willing to cross.

He concocted the entire scam to trick Ashley into falling for him. But before the night is up, he’ll have tied her to a chair, molested her, and be directly responsible for multiple dead bodies. Bear in mind that this is a child. An evil, evil child.

Luke is like Young Shelton meets Kevin McCallister meets Kevin Khatchadourian. He’s a very calm, precise, and cold-hearted psychopath. He doesn’t seem to care about the damage he inflicts and is unworried about any consequences as he repeatedly states that he has thought everything through and that he knows he won’t get in trouble. Never mind the loss of life, he won’t get in trouble. “I am the Harry Houdini of getting away with it.”

Luke is a little shit.

And so, the film plays out as a twisted mirror image of Home Alone, except instead of trying to punish would-be crooks, here the grand plan is to scare his babysitter enough so that she doesn’t leave — and if she does try, she’ll die.

Indeed, Home Alone is explicitly referenced in one scene where Luke viciously kills someone with the old paint can on a rope trick which results in some wonderfully gory color splatters.

And all the while we’re wondering: Will Ashely get out of this? Will Luke get away with this?

It’s a fucked-up scenario, to be sure. But aren’t plenty of great horror movies?

I found Better Watch Out to be a compelling, cleaver, and creative horror movie.

Prefer your festive frights to be a little more Christmas-centric? Check out these past Christmas horror movie recommendations:

• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

• Anna and the Apocalypse

• Terrifier 3