WICKED KNIGHTS | Dr. Anthony Tobia's Pop-Culture Psychiatry at Rutgers

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A psychopathology didactic taught as a movie club. REDRUM is the Psychopathology course at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School scheduled during our Department of Psychiatry.

PSY-FELD

In the Division of Psychosomatic Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, pre-rounds are called PSY-FELD, where we discuss the psychopathology demonstrated in Larry David’s syndicated situational comedy (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

FIDLER

An innovative 1 hoour elective course, Film Depictions to Learn Mental Disease, teaches med students about mental illness through movies and social media.

In October 2015, the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School examined the minds of 31 of the most horrific monsters. Each day of the month, medical students and residents watched a designated film and posted their synopses and insights on REDDIT. The result was a virtual curriculum, 31 Days of Halloween, where we watched 31 movies in 31 days and related them to the field of psychiatry.

Oct 28: Silence of the Lambs (1991)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 28,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween, March2Madness

Synopsis Following The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), we go back-to-back with Silence of the Lambs, the screen adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel by the same name and sequel to the 1986 film, Manhunter (itself an adaptation of the Harris novel Red Dragon). Both films …

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Oct 26: Thirteen Ghosts (Thir13en Ghosts) (2001)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 26,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis Thirteen Ghosts (Thir13en Ghosts) is a remake of the 1960 horror film, 13 Ghosts, written by Robb White. When the original film premiered, scenes involving ghosts were shown in Illusion-O: audiences received viewers with red and blue cellophane filters, giving them a choice to …

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Oct 25: House on Haunted Hill (1959)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 25,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis: On this date in 1993, we lost arguably the most iconic actor in the world of horror when Vincent Price lost his battle with lung cancer. Price starred in numerous classics including House of Wax, The Mad Magician, The Fly, Return of the Fly, …

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Oct 24: Urban Legend (1998)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 24,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis We go back-to-back with Robert Englund films and analyze Urban Legend (1998), a slasher film that follows a killer at a New England university who murders students in ways similar to those described in various urban legends. The film follows a group of friends …

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Oct 23: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 23,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis A Nightmare on Elm Street is a slasher film set in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. The plot revolves around Alice and her teenage friends who are stalked and killed in their dreams by the omnipresent, blade-gloved Freddy Krueger. The reason behind Freddie’s …

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Oct 22: Orphan (2009)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 22,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis Orphan (2009) is a mystery/thriller, horror film featuring Kate and John Coleman who, following the death of their daughter, try to pick up the pieces of their lives and adopt a 9-year- old girl, Esther, from a nearby orphanage. The innocent, sweet, educated, well-spoken …

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Oct 21: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 21,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis Today, October 21, 2015, is Back to the Future Day. It’s also the date we’ll pay homage to another movie about time travel; The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British classic rock musical, The Rocky Horror Show, written …

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Oct 20: Insidious (2013)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 20,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis Two-Sentence Horror Stories have populated the internet. Among the most unsettling include: I always thought my cat had a staring problem – she always seemed fixated on my face. Until one day, when I realized that she was always looking just behind me1. I …

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Oct 19: 30 Days of Night (2007)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 19,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis On this date in 2007, the polar night descended on Barrow, Alaska, the setting for 30 Days of Night, a horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. Barrow, Alaska is preparing for its annual month-long polar night when a …

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Oct 18: The Ring (2002)

posted by Dr. Anthony Tobia on October 18,2015 in 31 Days of Halloween

Synopsis On this date in 2002, the world was introduced to Samara Morgan, evil incarnate. The Ring is a remake of Ringu, a 1998 Japanese horror film that draws on the folk tale, Banchō Sarayashiki. As legend tells it, there was once a beautiful servant …

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