Hunger Games meets House at the End of the Street

It’s October 25. Two Months ’til Christmas. But, more importantly, one week ’til Halloween. What better way to commemorate the occasion than to take in bone-chilling, blood-curdling, scare-your-pants-off horror flick. For those of you paying attention, I’ve already fulfilled my obligation this month with my friend, Vanessa, and House at the End of the Street.

While it did accomplish its primary goal of scaring the snot out of me, I don’t see any Oscar nods in its future. Still, it manages to attract an audience. Mostly because FilmNation Entertainment opted to cast Jennifer Lawrence (also known as Katniss Everdeen from the globally famous Hunger Games) as its female lead. And actually, I noticed that Lawrence’s two movies have a few similarities.

These details were exactly the same.

In both HG and HATEOTS …

• Katniss (which henceforth shall be her name for both films) is a tough, jaded teenager with lots of attitude.
• She’s got a crappy relationship with her mom.
• She lives near the woods.
• Children die.

And these were pretty close.

1. Katniss doesn’t have a father.

• Because he was killed in a mine explosion. (HG)
• Because her parents were divorced and FilmNation Entertainment didn’t want to cast an actor to play her dad. (HATEOTS)

2. Katniss is surrounded my alcohol abuse.

• By Haymitch, the sole surviving victor from District 12 who fell to alcoholism following his fight to stay alive against twenty-three bloodthirsty opponents. (HG)
• By spoiled, overprivileged teenagers who, if this movie was a slasher flick of the 80s, would’ve been picked off one by one during the course of the movie. (HATEOTS)

3. Katniss sings.

• Because she wants to defy the Capitol and avenge Rue’s death. (HG)
• Because she wants to rock out in Battle of the Bands. (HATEOTS)

4. Katniss is exposed to an aggressive sleep aid.

• Sleep syrup – because she needs to lull Peeta into a deep sleep while she risks her life venturing out for much needed medicinal supplies to save his life. (HG)
• Chloroform – because the killer was small in stature and thought she needed subduing. (HATEOTS)

5. Katniss is being forced to conform to something she is not.

• A tribute or, as Peeta would call it, a pawn in the Capitol’s dystopian game. (HG)
• A dead girl. Or undead. You don’t find out ’til the end and I’m not going to spoil it for you. (HATEOTS)

Oh, and one more thing. Remember the one about Lincoln having a secretary named Kennedy and so on? Well … the name of the Hunger Games producer is NINA Jacobsen. And there was a character in House at the End of the Street named MARY Jacobsen. Oooooooooooh.

* * * * * * * * * *

Where am I going with this?

Duh. Absolutely nowhere. I’m the girl who writes about dumbassery, remember? And today I think I’ve given you more than your daily dose. In summary, GO SEE A SCARY MOVIE! And come tell me about it when you do. Hurry! You’ve only got six days left. My friend, Vanessa, still wants to have a Paranormal Activity movie marathon. (Shudder.) I’ve never seen any of them. God help us all if she wins me over. Think manic posts. Crazy, rambling, over caffeinated posts. From a sleepless lunatic.

It could get pretty interesting.