19. El Orfanato aka The Orphanage (2007)
This episode is for the bookstagrammers! We have a booksta legend here today: Brittany aka Bookish Millennial [https://www.instagram.com/bookish.millennial/], co-creator of The Diverse Baseline [https://thediversebaseline.carrd.co/] challenge. On the podcast, Brittany and I discuss the excellent movie that traumatized us as teens back in 2007, J.A. Bayona’s El Orfanato or The Orphanage. We discuss how we both were duped by marketing for this film, how you should trust your wives and children (because they’re people with feelings, what a concept, I know!), how nail trauma is worse than teeth in horror, and why you must ask your kid to draw their imaginary friends. We also discuss a record amount of readalike and watchalikes for this one, so be sure to listen to the end!
Please note that child death is a major plot point in The Orphanage (2007) so we do talk about child death throughout.
00:00-18:00- Intro / How Brittany Got Into Horror / How We First Saw The Orphanage
18:00- 32:00- Brief Synopsis / The Haunted House Genre
32:00-56:00- Scariest Scenes (The Games, Bathroom, Medium) / The Devastating Ending
56:00-01:22:00- Double Feature Ideas / Readalikes / Outro
Please note, timestamps are estimates.
References/Books Mentioned:
* The Orphanage- DVD Special Features [https://www.orbitdvd.com/products/the-orphanage-limited-hardbox-edition-region-free?srsltid=AfmBOormqJHfc9-AM6F0dzfP55wFH5lXIwyKzv-DoHX0AofBn5JCgiFa]
* My Darling Dreadful Thing [https://bookshop.org/p/books/my-darling-dreadful-thing-johanna-van-veen/f8db3f6f95b7b138?ean=9781728281544&next=t] by Johanna van Veen (Brittany mentioned)
* Incidents Around the House [https://bookshop.org/p/books/incidents-around-the-house-a-novel-josh-malerman/56999345a631ef94] by Josh Malerman (Chloe mentioned)
* Let Them In [https://bookshop.org/p/books/let-him-in-william-friend/297c0a66d6fe446a?ean=9781728295138&next=t] by William Friend (Brittany mentioned)
* Out There Screaming [https://bookshop.org/p/books/out-there-screaming-an-anthology-of-new-black-horror-jordan-peele/614596005d02a8c9] (anthology mentioned by Chloe mentioned)
* On the Calculation of Volume I [https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-the-calculation-of-volume-book-i-shortlisted-for-the-2025-international-booker-prize-solvej-balle/39837e132ef254c6] by Solvej Balle (Chloe mentioned, time loop)
* Such Lovely Skin [https://bookshop.org/p/books/such-lovely-skin-tatiana-schlote-bonne/9be65265ed06994f] by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (Brittany mentioned)
* This Cursed House [https://bookshop.org/p/books/this-cursed-house-del-sandeen/4a64484552d9a1ef?ean=9780593639542&next=t] by Del Sandeen (Brittany mentioned)
* The Salvage [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-salvage-a-novel-anbara-salam/7f61a4df3d8ebf87?ean=9781963108477&next=t] by Anbara Salam (Chloe mentioned for main character similarities only)
* Lupita Nyong’o and her cat [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/lupita-nyongo-cat-a-quiet-place-day-one-1235914382/] (Hollywood Reporter, June 4, 2024)
Find Us:
* Follow Brittany on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/bookish.millennial/] and read along with The Diverse Baseline [https://thediversebaseline.carrd.co/] on Storygraph [https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/c6cf0a77-77bf-493d-be2b-1ffd37c69638].
* Follow Chloe’s Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/chlobot/]and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/chloesnotscared/].
* Find other great film pods on the Now Playing Network [https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/].
The sound and clips used in this episode is from The Orphanage (2007) trailer and film, used for educational purposes.
Listen to “Not Scared: A Horror Movie Podcast” on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-scared-a-horror-movie-podcast/id1832623186], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3VichqN4PZEhjwTfY2srtw?si=c25fdac31a594c86], or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’d like to get new reviews and special features, please subscribe to my Substack [https://chloesnotscared.substack.com/podcast]. Thank you for listening!
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chloesnotscared.substack.com/subscribe [https://chloesnotscared.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]
