Trailer lands for Christmas horror comedy Better Watch Out, the anti-Home Alone


It may be set at Christmas, and centre on a mischievous young whippersnapper battling intruders – but ‘Home Alone’ this most definitely is not.

Here’s our first trailer for ‘Better Watch Out,’ director Chris Peckover’s darkly humorous seasonal shocker, for which we recently got the exclusive first look at the poster.

Levi Miller (‘Pan’) stars as Luke, a 12-year old left home with teenage babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge of ‘The Visit’) during the holiday season. Despite the age gap, it seems Luke and his pal Garrett (Ed Oxenbould, also seen in ‘The Visit’) fancy their chances at conjuring up some romance with the older girl.

Olivia DeJonge and Levi Miller in Christmas horror comedy ‘Better Watch Out’ (credit: Universal)
Olivia DeJonge and Levi Miller in Christmas horror comedy ‘Better Watch Out’ (credit: Universal)

Unfortunately, it seems Ashley also has a rather possessive ex-boyfriend who clearly doesn’t understand the concept of ‘no means no’ – and subsequently decides to break into the house with his buddies.

However, like Kevin McAllister before him, it seems Luke has a ‘be prepared’ spirit and an aptitude for sadistic violence that no one could have predicted. However, it seems this time around we can expect rather more gruesome results – including, as this trailer shows, at least one specific ‘Home Alone’ gag directly recreated to grislier effect.

Credit: Universal
Credit: Universal

The blackly comedic tone of this trailer hints at something not a million miles away from the spirit of 2015’s ‘Krampus,’ as a more macabre take on the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ – not to mention another prime example of a horror movie with young heroes, in the vein of current hit ‘It’ (though of course this one appears far more tongue-in-cheek).

After going down a storm at London’s FrightFest in August, ‘Better Watch Out’ will screen at a number of UK horror film festivals in the coming months, before going on general release from 8 December.

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