Home Alone fans think the dad is real villain - not the burglars

We're midway through December which means that, by now, half of us will have recently sat through the much-loved festive flick, Home Alone.

Apparently, however, fans of the Christmas classic have been paying closer attention this year, and have convinced themselves that the film's true villain may have slipped through the cracks.

For those in need of a reminder, the 1990 hit hones in on mischievous youngster Kevin McAllister (played by a young Macauley Culkin), whose colossal family have rallied together in his Chicago ahead of their flight to Paris to celebrate the holiday season.

Blamed for every mishap by his mother and father, Kate and John (Catherine O'Hara and John Heard), Kevin wishes for his family to disappear. Coincidentally, the next morning, whilst rushing to the airport having overslept, the parents miscount the children flying to France without their youngest.

Harry and Marv are known as the 'Wet Bandits' (20th Century Studios)

Initially thrilled to have the place to himself, Kevin's joy turns to terror when his house is targeted by a pair of bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), who set out to burgle his plush suburban mansion.

Whilst his mother hitchhikes her way around the world to get back to him, Kevin sets boobytraps for the thieves, knocking them back every step of the way with spikes in the ground, piping hot door handles and paint cans swinging from the ceiling.

Thankfully, his mysterious neighbour intervenes at the 11th hour, calling the cops and putting Harry and Marv away for good - well, until the sequel, when they manage to break out of jail.

As we say, however, despite the troublemaking twosome being pitched as the franchise's 'baddies', a number of viewers have recently realised that there could be someone else to blame for poor Kevin's misfortune - his father.

Fans have slammed Kevin's dad as the 'real villain' (20th Century Studios)

"Peter McCallister is the villain in Home Alone," one Facebook user recently wrote, citing a number of instances where the not-so-doting dad attempted to make light of his child abandonment crime.

"Calls losing kids a 'family tradition' in front of the police and laughs about it," the same user begins, adding: "Lets his brother call Kevin a jerk without any repercussions, [and] forgot to close the garage - the car batteries are dead for sure.

"When the flight landed, he couldn't have cared less about forgetting Kevin, he just wanted to get to the hotel and relax, [he] gets mad at Kevin for the room service bill - sorry your kid didn’t want to starve."

Lastly, the user jokes: "It's highly questionable where his money even comes from."

Really makes you think, doesn't it?