543087 research-article2014
APY0010.1177/1039856214543087Australasian PsychiatryFriedman et al.
Australasian
Psychiatry
Culture
Horror films and psychiatry Susan Hatters Friedman University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Australasian Psychiatry 2014, Vol 22(5) 447–449 © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1039856214543087 apy.sagepub.com
Fernando Espi Forcen University of Chicago, Fellow in Child Psychiatry, Chicago, IL, USA John Preston Shand Case Western Reserve University, Resident in Psychiatry, Cleveland, OH, USA
Abstract Objectives: Horror films have been popular for generations. The purpose of this article is to illustrate psychiatric conditions, themes and practice seen in horror films. Conclusions: Horror films often either include psychiatrists as characters or depict (Hollywood’s dangerous version of) serious mental illness. Demonic possession, zombies, and ‘slasher’ killers are described, as well as the horror genre’s characterizations of psychiatrists. Keywords: horror, films, forensic, homicide, violence
E
ndless rain and creative imaginations on an 1816 vacation of friends Shelley, Byron, Clairmont and Polidori precipitated the modern horror story. Shelley’s Frankenstein and Polidori’s Vampyre came soon thereafter.1 Horror stories and films have been analysed from a psychoanalytic perspective for decades. For instance, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (of which there are multiple film adaptations over the past century), could be seen as an example of a person whose ego is unable to integrate his superego and id drives, resulting in dissociation. In monster films (such as The Werewolf, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon) the beast can be interpreted as a depiction of our own unacceptable impulses, repressed into the unconscious. Through the monster, these unconscious impulses become real, which might help explain the success of monster films in popular culture. More recently, the RCPsych ‘Minds on Film’ blog, Melbourne’s Cultural and Global Mental Health Film Initiative, and the recent MHS conference film festival have suggested that film is an effective way of portraying mental health issues. Films help shape public perceptions of mental illness and psychiatry.2 Trainees have much to learn from films,2,3 and horror films including Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street have been utilized in a model curriculum.1 Horror films may also be useful in psychotherapy; Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street were used in psychotherapy of a teenage boy with behavioural disturbances and a history of loss.4 This article explores portrayals of psychiatrists and psychiatry in horror films, as well as psychiatric disorders in demonic possession, zombie, and slasher films.
Psychiatric patients, psychiatrists, and ECT in horror film Arguably, horror films exploit society’s misunderstandings about mental illness and profit from fear-mongering. Gruesome imagery of psychiatric patients committing random violent and illogical acts forms the basis for many horror films. An early example is Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a German 1920 silent horror film, rereleased at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. Psychiatric themes abound, including the murderousby-proxy asylum director Dr. Caligari himself, and delusions shared by the institutionalized narrator. Dracula, a well-known horror character, was conceived by Bram Stoker in 1897. Dracula (1931) is ripe with psychiatric undertones. Dracula’s assistant, Renfield, is “a raving maniac… under observation in Dr Seward’s Sanatorium near London.” Portraying this asylum patient as a slave to evil propagated the association of mental illness with murder, darkness and evil. Renfield’s sinister character is described as “a madman”, and it is explained “the powers of evil are too great for those with weak minds”. Soon thereafter, in the Testament of Dr Mabuse (1933), Mabuse was a “renowned doctor…aided by an almost superhuman logic…[who] used his powers of hypnosis
Corresponding author: Susan Hatters Friedman, MD, University of Auckland, Department of Psychological Medicine, private bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]
447 Downloaded from apy.sagepub.com at Uniwersytet Warszawski on June 2, 2015
Australasian Psychiatry 22(5)
to commit crimes of a magnitude previously deemed impossible,” but after a shoot-out resulting in the deaths of several people, he “had gone hopelessly insane.” This film represents not only the psychiatric patient as a threat to society, but the asylum director, Dr. Baum, as malevolent—Baum is collecting Mabuse’s writings to replicate his criminal activity for profit. Schneider described three types of psychiatrists in film: the scatterbrained but harmless Dr Dippy, the warm and caring Dr Wonderful, and the coercive and dangerous Dr Evil.5 Friedman and colleagues recently described five types of forensic psychiatrists in fiction and film: Dr Evil (with the prototype Dr Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs), the Professor (who tends to lecture audiences using jargon), the Activist (who is over-invested in the court outcome for personal reasons), the Hired Gun (most common real-life criticism), and Jack-of-All-Trades (with prototype Alex Cross, who far transcends the role and boundaries of psychiatry and may save the day).2,6 The classic early horror films demonstrate the strong tie between psychiatry and horror films—and more specifically the perception of the mentally ill as violent and of the psychiatrist as deceptive Dr Evil. More recently, the psychiatric treatment modality of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) has appeared in film. From Beyond (1986), Child’s Play (1988) and The House on Haunted Hill (1999) are horror films in which ECT plays a role, and in the last two appears to cause death.7 In From Beyond, because of a sadistic rival’s jealousy, an aspiring junior psychiatrist is “sentenced to a course of ECT for professional misconduct” (p. 269).7 In Child’s Play, the well-intentioned psychiatrist of the child with the possessed doll Chucky, is ‘shocked to death’ in the ECT suite by said doll. In House on Haunted Hill, a woman is strapped to a table, convulsing, while attempts to stop the ECT are fruitless; her doctor/lover pronounces her dead. Thus in horror, ECT is used as a punishment or weapon (against psychiatrists), rather than being portrayed as the effective treatment modality for severe mental illness.
Phenomenology of psychiatric disorders in horror films Psychopathology has been reflected in film throughout the history of the horror genre, with traits of psychotic, neurotic, cognitive, personality and neuropsychiatric conditions seen. However, one must keep in mind that films need not follow the constraints of the DSM.
Demonic possession Demonic possession is invasion of a person by an evil spirit. Only an exorcism will release the demon. In The Exorcist (1973), after playing with the Ouija board, the little girl Regan becomes possessed by demon king Pazuzu. Initially Regan experiences non-specific behaviour changes
which alarm her mother. Her doctor diagnoses ADHD and prescribes ritalin which does not help. Medical tests (including neuroimaging) fail to demonstrate the aetiology. Regan develops seizures and agitation from being possessed, with her eyes rolling back, convulsions, foaming mouth, and purposeless violence. Seizures or pseudo-seizures have long been used to describe demonic possession. The differential diagnosis is wide, including psychotic disorders, mania, Tourette’s syndrome, conversion disorder, histrionic personality and dissociative identity disorder.8,9 Another recent cinematic example of demonic possession is The Conjuring (2013). In the film, two paranormal investigators practice an exorcism for the mother of a family living in a farm-house. The haunting was by the spirit of a witch who killed herself after trying to sacrifice her children to the devil. Both the classic Exorcist and the recent example demonstrate an otherworldly explanation of symptoms that are not treatable by contemporary psychiatry. Zombies In films portraying a zombie apocalypse, society regresses to a more primitive form, reigned by chaos and anarchy, in which survival itself is the major goal. The first zombies in American cinema were inspired by Haitian voodoo zombies. According to Haitian tradition, a dead person could turn into a zombie with magic rituals and substances. Subsequently, wicked zombies could be used as slaves.10 Voodoo zombies are central in horror classics such as The White Zombie (1932). With Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1964), voodoo zombies switched to flesheating hungry and fearless ghouls. Schlozman suggests the ataxic gait and imbalance in Romero’s zombies could be explained by a cerebellar lesion. Constant hunger could be explained by abnormalities in their ventral medial hypothalamus not receiving or being able to interpret signals. Lack of problem-solving and executive functioning capacity may be explained by prefrontal cortex damage, and their characteristic lack of fear and constant anger by amygdala alterations.11 Zombies, popular in horror films, when conceptualized thusly as the sum of their neurological lesions, can be invaluable in teaching about neurology. ‘Slasher’ films Psycho (1960), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980) and Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) epitomize the ‘slasher’ genre. Hitchcock’s Psycho’s murderer Norman Bates has murdered his mother and her lover years ago (which was incorrectly ruled a murder-suicide), and also stabs Bates Hotel guest Marion in the infamous shower scene. Dr Fred Richmond is the police’s forensic psychiatrist, who (as Professor-type expert) attempts to explain Norman’s personality and crimes in lengthy monologues. ‘Mother issues’ abound; the trio of dissociation, ‘homicidal mania’ and transvestitism is seen (just as it is later in Dressed to Kill (1980).5
448 Downloaded from apy.sagepub.com at Uniwersytet Warszawski on June 2, 2015
Friedman et al.
Michael Myers, villain of Halloween, stabbed his sister after she had sex, back when he was six years old. As a young adult, he escapes from the forensic hospital, and kills sexually active teenagers. His psychiatrist, Dr Loomis (Jack-of-all-Trades), works together with police, and shoots Michael. Tobia and colleagues describe Michael’s silence after killing his sister as conversion disorder.1 Voyeurism and autistic spectrum disorder are other considerations. In Friday the 13th, 20 years previously, Crystal Lake summer camp was closed after murders of sexually active counsellors. Now a new generation of counsellors is attempting to re-open it. They are picked off one by one by a killer with a hockey mask and a machete. The killer is Pamela Voorhees, whose son Jason had drowned at the camp because of poor supervision. Alice, the only teen left, saves the day by beheading Mrs Voorhees, or so we think. However, Jason Voorhees is actually alive, and kills Alice in the second instalment, starting his own killing spree. He is apparently killing to avenge his mother’s murder (which was in turn to avenge his own apparent death). Silence with implied intellectual disablement, and apparent congenital malformations are noted; the aforementioned curriculum utilizes Jason in teaching about foetal alcohol syndrome.1
Concluding remarks For almost two centuries, horror stories have captivated listeners, and horror films have captured audiences for almost a century. Horror films reflect a sinister version of mental illness and psychiatry, with psychiatric patients committing random acts of violence, and psychiatrists often portrayed as Dr Evil. Even ECT is a weapon. However, horror films can also be useful in teaching, such as about neurologic lesions in zombie films, about possession states in demonic possession films, and about various disorders using slasher films. They may have utility in therapy as well. We should keep in mind, however, that horror films present viewers with misguided cinematic versions of mental illness (not limited by the DSM), which may impact stigma and public fears. Authors’ note Portions of this article were presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, New York City, 5/2014.
Disclosure The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
References
Freddy Kruger, villain in the Nightmare series, a murderous child-molester, was burned to death by vigilante parents. Thus he attacks teens from ‘beyond’, exacting his revenge through their dreams. Teens are killed in compromising situations. In the aforementioned curriculum, Freddy is representative of narcolepsy.1 Paedophilia, psychopathy and ‘mother issues’ are suggested.
1. Tobia A, Draschil T, Sportelli D, et al. The Horror: a creative framework for teaching psychopathology via metaphorical analyses of horror films. Acad Psychiatry 2013; 37: 131–136.
Slasher films in particular may be seen as teenage morality plays in which the promiscuous teens are slashed, usually by psychopaths with ‘mommy issues’. Popular slasher films of the past half-century demonstrate a tie to forensic psychiatry that is particularly strong, evidencing both Professor and Jack-of-all-Trades characters, rather than the Dr Evils seen in Dracula and other early horror films. Also, the slasher films are promising in teaching about dissociation, foetal alcohol syndrome, paedophilia and psychopathy, and potentially for using in therapy. The aforementioned psychotherapy with the adolescent boy involving slasher films allowed the teen to express his identification with the villain’s anger, his envy of power, and loss of the villain’s mother.4
4. Turley JM and Derdeyn AP. Use of a horror film in psychotherapy. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1990; 29: 942–945.
2. Friedman SH, Cerny CA, West S, et al. Reel forensic experts: forensic psychiatrists as portrayed on screen. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2011; 39: 412–417. 3. Cerny CA, Friedman SH and Smith D. Television’s crazy lady trope: Female psychopathic traits, teaching, and the influence of popular culture. Acad Psychiatry 2014; 38: 1–9.
5. Schneider I. The theory and practice of movie psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144: 996–1002. 6. Friedman SH and Cerny CA. From Hannibal Lecter to Alex Cross: Forensic mental health experts in popular fiction. Acad Psychiatry 2013; 37: 345–351. 7. McDonald A and Walter G. The portrayal of ECT in American movies. J ECT 2001; 17: 264–274. 8. Friedman SH and Howie A. Salem witchcraft and lessons for contemporary forensic psychiatry. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2013; 41: 294–299. 9. Trethowan WH. Exorcism: A psychiatric viewpoint. J Med Ethics 1976; 2: 127–137. 10. Metraux A. Voodoo in Haiti. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1959. 11. Schlozman S. The Zombie Autopsies. New York: Hachette Book group, 2011.
449 Downloaded from apy.sagepub.com at Uniwersytet Warszawski on June 2, 2015
APY0010.1177/1039856214543087Australasian PsychiatryFriedman et al.
Australasian
Psychiatry
Culture
Horror films and psychiatry Susan Hatters Friedman University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Australasian Psychiatry 2014, Vol 22(5) 447–449 © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1039856214543087 apy.sagepub.com
Fernando Espi Forcen University of Chicago, Fellow in Child Psychiatry, Chicago, IL, USA John Preston Shand Case Western Reserve University, Resident in Psychiatry, Cleveland, OH, USA
Abstract Objectives: Horror films have been popular for generations. The purpose of this article is to illustrate psychiatric conditions, themes and practice seen in horror films. Conclusions: Horror films often either include psychiatrists as characters or depict (Hollywood’s dangerous version of) serious mental illness. Demonic possession, zombies, and ‘slasher’ killers are described, as well as the horror genre’s characterizations of psychiatrists. Keywords: horror, films, forensic, homicide, violence
E
ndless rain and creative imaginations on an 1816 vacation of friends Shelley, Byron, Clairmont and Polidori precipitated the modern horror story. Shelley’s Frankenstein and Polidori’s Vampyre came soon thereafter.1 Horror stories and films have been analysed from a psychoanalytic perspective for decades. For instance, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (of which there are multiple film adaptations over the past century), could be seen as an example of a person whose ego is unable to integrate his superego and id drives, resulting in dissociation. In monster films (such as The Werewolf, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon) the beast can be interpreted as a depiction of our own unacceptable impulses, repressed into the unconscious. Through the monster, these unconscious impulses become real, which might help explain the success of monster films in popular culture. More recently, the RCPsych ‘Minds on Film’ blog, Melbourne’s Cultural and Global Mental Health Film Initiative, and the recent MHS conference film festival have suggested that film is an effective way of portraying mental health issues. Films help shape public perceptions of mental illness and psychiatry.2 Trainees have much to learn from films,2,3 and horror films including Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street have been utilized in a model curriculum.1 Horror films may also be useful in psychotherapy; Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street were used in psychotherapy of a teenage boy with behavioural disturbances and a history of loss.4 This article explores portrayals of psychiatrists and psychiatry in horror films, as well as psychiatric disorders in demonic possession, zombie, and slasher films.
Psychiatric patients, psychiatrists, and ECT in horror film Arguably, horror films exploit society’s misunderstandings about mental illness and profit from fear-mongering. Gruesome imagery of psychiatric patients committing random violent and illogical acts forms the basis for many horror films. An early example is Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a German 1920 silent horror film, rereleased at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. Psychiatric themes abound, including the murderousby-proxy asylum director Dr. Caligari himself, and delusions shared by the institutionalized narrator. Dracula, a well-known horror character, was conceived by Bram Stoker in 1897. Dracula (1931) is ripe with psychiatric undertones. Dracula’s assistant, Renfield, is “a raving maniac… under observation in Dr Seward’s Sanatorium near London.” Portraying this asylum patient as a slave to evil propagated the association of mental illness with murder, darkness and evil. Renfield’s sinister character is described as “a madman”, and it is explained “the powers of evil are too great for those with weak minds”. Soon thereafter, in the Testament of Dr Mabuse (1933), Mabuse was a “renowned doctor…aided by an almost superhuman logic…[who] used his powers of hypnosis
Corresponding author: Susan Hatters Friedman, MD, University of Auckland, Department of Psychological Medicine, private bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]
447 Downloaded from apy.sagepub.com at Uniwersytet Warszawski on June 2, 2015
Australasian Psychiatry 22(5)
to commit crimes of a magnitude previously deemed impossible,” but after a shoot-out resulting in the deaths of several people, he “had gone hopelessly insane.” This film represents not only the psychiatric patient as a threat to society, but the asylum director, Dr. Baum, as malevolent—Baum is collecting Mabuse’s writings to replicate his criminal activity for profit. Schneider described three types of psychiatrists in film: the scatterbrained but harmless Dr Dippy, the warm and caring Dr Wonderful, and the coercive and dangerous Dr Evil.5 Friedman and colleagues recently described five types of forensic psychiatrists in fiction and film: Dr Evil (with the prototype Dr Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs), the Professor (who tends to lecture audiences using jargon), the Activist (who is over-invested in the court outcome for personal reasons), the Hired Gun (most common real-life criticism), and Jack-of-All-Trades (with prototype Alex Cross, who far transcends the role and boundaries of psychiatry and may save the day).2,6 The classic early horror films demonstrate the strong tie between psychiatry and horror films—and more specifically the perception of the mentally ill as violent and of the psychiatrist as deceptive Dr Evil. More recently, the psychiatric treatment modality of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) has appeared in film. From Beyond (1986), Child’s Play (1988) and The House on Haunted Hill (1999) are horror films in which ECT plays a role, and in the last two appears to cause death.7 In From Beyond, because of a sadistic rival’s jealousy, an aspiring junior psychiatrist is “sentenced to a course of ECT for professional misconduct” (p. 269).7 In Child’s Play, the well-intentioned psychiatrist of the child with the possessed doll Chucky, is ‘shocked to death’ in the ECT suite by said doll. In House on Haunted Hill, a woman is strapped to a table, convulsing, while attempts to stop the ECT are fruitless; her doctor/lover pronounces her dead. Thus in horror, ECT is used as a punishment or weapon (against psychiatrists), rather than being portrayed as the effective treatment modality for severe mental illness.
Phenomenology of psychiatric disorders in horror films Psychopathology has been reflected in film throughout the history of the horror genre, with traits of psychotic, neurotic, cognitive, personality and neuropsychiatric conditions seen. However, one must keep in mind that films need not follow the constraints of the DSM.
Demonic possession Demonic possession is invasion of a person by an evil spirit. Only an exorcism will release the demon. In The Exorcist (1973), after playing with the Ouija board, the little girl Regan becomes possessed by demon king Pazuzu. Initially Regan experiences non-specific behaviour changes
which alarm her mother. Her doctor diagnoses ADHD and prescribes ritalin which does not help. Medical tests (including neuroimaging) fail to demonstrate the aetiology. Regan develops seizures and agitation from being possessed, with her eyes rolling back, convulsions, foaming mouth, and purposeless violence. Seizures or pseudo-seizures have long been used to describe demonic possession. The differential diagnosis is wide, including psychotic disorders, mania, Tourette’s syndrome, conversion disorder, histrionic personality and dissociative identity disorder.8,9 Another recent cinematic example of demonic possession is The Conjuring (2013). In the film, two paranormal investigators practice an exorcism for the mother of a family living in a farm-house. The haunting was by the spirit of a witch who killed herself after trying to sacrifice her children to the devil. Both the classic Exorcist and the recent example demonstrate an otherworldly explanation of symptoms that are not treatable by contemporary psychiatry. Zombies In films portraying a zombie apocalypse, society regresses to a more primitive form, reigned by chaos and anarchy, in which survival itself is the major goal. The first zombies in American cinema were inspired by Haitian voodoo zombies. According to Haitian tradition, a dead person could turn into a zombie with magic rituals and substances. Subsequently, wicked zombies could be used as slaves.10 Voodoo zombies are central in horror classics such as The White Zombie (1932). With Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1964), voodoo zombies switched to flesheating hungry and fearless ghouls. Schlozman suggests the ataxic gait and imbalance in Romero’s zombies could be explained by a cerebellar lesion. Constant hunger could be explained by abnormalities in their ventral medial hypothalamus not receiving or being able to interpret signals. Lack of problem-solving and executive functioning capacity may be explained by prefrontal cortex damage, and their characteristic lack of fear and constant anger by amygdala alterations.11 Zombies, popular in horror films, when conceptualized thusly as the sum of their neurological lesions, can be invaluable in teaching about neurology. ‘Slasher’ films Psycho (1960), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980) and Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) epitomize the ‘slasher’ genre. Hitchcock’s Psycho’s murderer Norman Bates has murdered his mother and her lover years ago (which was incorrectly ruled a murder-suicide), and also stabs Bates Hotel guest Marion in the infamous shower scene. Dr Fred Richmond is the police’s forensic psychiatrist, who (as Professor-type expert) attempts to explain Norman’s personality and crimes in lengthy monologues. ‘Mother issues’ abound; the trio of dissociation, ‘homicidal mania’ and transvestitism is seen (just as it is later in Dressed to Kill (1980).5
448 Downloaded from apy.sagepub.com at Uniwersytet Warszawski on June 2, 2015
Friedman et al.
Michael Myers, villain of Halloween, stabbed his sister after she had sex, back when he was six years old. As a young adult, he escapes from the forensic hospital, and kills sexually active teenagers. His psychiatrist, Dr Loomis (Jack-of-all-Trades), works together with police, and shoots Michael. Tobia and colleagues describe Michael’s silence after killing his sister as conversion disorder.1 Voyeurism and autistic spectrum disorder are other considerations. In Friday the 13th, 20 years previously, Crystal Lake summer camp was closed after murders of sexually active counsellors. Now a new generation of counsellors is attempting to re-open it. They are picked off one by one by a killer with a hockey mask and a machete. The killer is Pamela Voorhees, whose son Jason had drowned at the camp because of poor supervision. Alice, the only teen left, saves the day by beheading Mrs Voorhees, or so we think. However, Jason Voorhees is actually alive, and kills Alice in the second instalment, starting his own killing spree. He is apparently killing to avenge his mother’s murder (which was in turn to avenge his own apparent death). Silence with implied intellectual disablement, and apparent congenital malformations are noted; the aforementioned curriculum utilizes Jason in teaching about foetal alcohol syndrome.1
Concluding remarks For almost two centuries, horror stories have captivated listeners, and horror films have captured audiences for almost a century. Horror films reflect a sinister version of mental illness and psychiatry, with psychiatric patients committing random acts of violence, and psychiatrists often portrayed as Dr Evil. Even ECT is a weapon. However, horror films can also be useful in teaching, such as about neurologic lesions in zombie films, about possession states in demonic possession films, and about various disorders using slasher films. They may have utility in therapy as well. We should keep in mind, however, that horror films present viewers with misguided cinematic versions of mental illness (not limited by the DSM), which may impact stigma and public fears. Authors’ note Portions of this article were presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, New York City, 5/2014.
Disclosure The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
References
Freddy Kruger, villain in the Nightmare series, a murderous child-molester, was burned to death by vigilante parents. Thus he attacks teens from ‘beyond’, exacting his revenge through their dreams. Teens are killed in compromising situations. In the aforementioned curriculum, Freddy is representative of narcolepsy.1 Paedophilia, psychopathy and ‘mother issues’ are suggested.
1. Tobia A, Draschil T, Sportelli D, et al. The Horror: a creative framework for teaching psychopathology via metaphorical analyses of horror films. Acad Psychiatry 2013; 37: 131–136.
Slasher films in particular may be seen as teenage morality plays in which the promiscuous teens are slashed, usually by psychopaths with ‘mommy issues’. Popular slasher films of the past half-century demonstrate a tie to forensic psychiatry that is particularly strong, evidencing both Professor and Jack-of-all-Trades characters, rather than the Dr Evils seen in Dracula and other early horror films. Also, the slasher films are promising in teaching about dissociation, foetal alcohol syndrome, paedophilia and psychopathy, and potentially for using in therapy. The aforementioned psychotherapy with the adolescent boy involving slasher films allowed the teen to express his identification with the villain’s anger, his envy of power, and loss of the villain’s mother.4
4. Turley JM and Derdeyn AP. Use of a horror film in psychotherapy. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1990; 29: 942–945.
2. Friedman SH, Cerny CA, West S, et al. Reel forensic experts: forensic psychiatrists as portrayed on screen. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2011; 39: 412–417. 3. Cerny CA, Friedman SH and Smith D. Television’s crazy lady trope: Female psychopathic traits, teaching, and the influence of popular culture. Acad Psychiatry 2014; 38: 1–9.
5. Schneider I. The theory and practice of movie psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144: 996–1002. 6. Friedman SH and Cerny CA. From Hannibal Lecter to Alex Cross: Forensic mental health experts in popular fiction. Acad Psychiatry 2013; 37: 345–351. 7. McDonald A and Walter G. The portrayal of ECT in American movies. J ECT 2001; 17: 264–274. 8. Friedman SH and Howie A. Salem witchcraft and lessons for contemporary forensic psychiatry. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2013; 41: 294–299. 9. Trethowan WH. Exorcism: A psychiatric viewpoint. J Med Ethics 1976; 2: 127–137. 10. Metraux A. Voodoo in Haiti. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1959. 11. Schlozman S. The Zombie Autopsies. New York: Hachette Book group, 2011.
449 Downloaded from apy.sagepub.com at Uniwersytet Warszawski on June 2, 2015
