31 Knights of Halloween: "Urban Legend"

Synopsis: Urban Legend (1998) is a slasher film that follows a group of friends who attend the fictional school of Pendleton University, the setting of student murders that follow those of the “Stanley Hall Massacre.” Natalie, the female protagonist, must try to find out who the killer is as her friends are systematically killed in ways that resemble popular urban legends.

How it relates to psychiatry

As the title suggests, urban legends are a large part of popular culture and often speak to the fears, anxieties, and biases of a culture. In doing so, they provide insight into the moral fabric of a community. Urban legends are cautionary tales of contemporary folklore that identify taboos that capture four common themes: a) misunderstandings, b) poetic justice, c) business rip-offs, and d) revenge.

The main theme captured in Urban Legend is revenge. While not an ego defense mechanism per se, revenge may be related to acting out; a subconscious process of the ego defined as a direct observable action on an unconscious conflict to avoid being conscious of the conflict. The film also demonstrates displacement. These two defense mechanisms combine as murderous impulses are discharged towards each of the victims, [spoiler alert] instead of Natalie who it is revealed was involved in the accidental death of the killer’s boyfriend. This vengeance is not only the urban legend theme but perhaps the killer’s way of coping with the death of her boyfriend (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ anger stage of grief).

The folkloric tales suddenly become reality for the students, causing them intense anxiety. It is all too real, particularly because the school was implicated in the murders from so many years ago. Fear is a hypothalamic emotion, often motivating human behavior; in the film, students demonstrate a wide range of behaviors. Some experience doubt of the murders (rationalization), some grow suspicious of each other (projection), while others simply choose to ignore them altogether (denial).