Mental Floss

MOVIES

Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney star in Night of the Comet (1984).

Over the past near-90 years, zombies have given form to our fears of other cultures, loss of agency, communism, atomic warfare, race relations, capitalism, mass contagions, the space race, and, most importantly, our bone-deep fear of one another.

April Snellings














Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's (green) Monster in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931).

In the more than 200 years since Mary Shelley’s 'Frankenstein' helped shape the horror genre as we know it today, there have been dozens of interpretations of Frankenstein’s Monster. But when and why did he become green?

April Snellings


Daniel Craig stars in No Time to Die (2021).

Six decades, 25 films, six actors, and billions of dollars in box office later, and we're still talking about James Bond, his literary legacy, and his big screen adventures.

Matthew Jackson
Mando (Pedro Pascal) surrounded by Baby Yoda and the Frog Lady in from The Mandalorian.

The irresistible combination of classic Star Wars action with the added bonus of a seriously darling miniaturized Yoda-esque creature has made 'The Mandalorian' a hit.

Kinsey Gidick








Will Forte plays the title role in MacGruber (2010).

'MacGruber,' the 'MacGyver'-inspired send-up of 1980s action movies, transformed a one-joke Saturday Night Live sketch into one of the best smart-dumb comedies of the last two decades.

Todd Gilchrist
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Since making his acting debut in 1977, Denzel Washington has appeared in more than 50 movies, where he has awed audiences and garnered critical acclaim by delivering one powerful performance after the next. But there’s much more to the man than his movies

Kristy Puchko
Some filmmakers are unable to finish what they've started.

Firing Robert De Niro. Struggling with a non-functioning animatronic bear. Spending 40 years on hand-drawn animation. For these reasons and others, these films aren't likely to ever see the light of day.

Jake Rossen