How come he couldn’t open the attic from the inside?
Plot Hole
shareTHAT IS NOT A PLOT HOLE...RATHER A PLOT CONVENIENCE. NOEMOJI
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MovieChat Forums > National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) Discussion > How come he couldn’t open the attic from...
Because it's a silly comedy. If he could have opened the hatch from the inside, there would have been no scene with him trapped in the attic. What a more skilled film maker, like Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd, would have done would be to think of some reason the hatch got stuck or locked, so it would have made more sense.
shareMy old house attic was like this if you are in it and someone closed it you couldn't get out easily.
shareYes he could have, but he could also have just finished breaking out the lathe and plaster ceiling he already stepped through and dropped down into the bedroom.
They could have fixed the attic scuttle door issue by putting one of those spring loaded latches that automatically lock until the string is pulled.
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My parents house had one because they had one of those huge whole house fans that would blow the stairs open.
When I was younger a lady once had me put a slide lock like that on her attic access because of a fear someone would get up there and live or come down once she was alone. The person would have to go up two flights of stairs and into the closet to get to the attic in the first place, and no one does seem to realize that even if the opening is locked the rest of the ceiling is half inch sheetrock so they are only removing the convenience of a nine foot ladder.
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