Mental Floss

MOVIES







The real-life 'Amityville Horror' house looks a little different these days.

Learn more about the supernatural incidents that inspired haunted house movies like ‘The Amityville Horror’ and ‘The Conjuring,’ and discover the truth behind the scares.

Garin Pirnia


Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder star in 'Blazing Saddles' (1974).

Mel Brooks’s audacious comedy was the first movie to incorporate audible flatulence (though the offending noises were muted when the film aired on television).

Mark Mancini


Meryl Streep.

Meryl Streep is one of the most acclaimed actresses in Hollywood history. Discover how this Oscar-winning star got her start—and how her first Academy Award ended up on a bathroom floor.

Jake Rossen








Virginia Woolf, Charlie Chaplin, and Ludwig van Beethoven could be considered nepo babies.

Plenty of nepo babies have earned their places in history. But it’s always good to acknowledge the doors open to people who have rich relatives—or whose dad knows the manager of a clogging troupe.

Ellen Gutoskey






John Carpenter on the set of 'Halloween' (1978).

From his 1978 classic “Halloween” to his love of video games, there’s a lot to appreciate about John Carpenter, but here are some other cool facts you might not have known about the storied director.

Shayna Murphy