Psycho (1960)

This was the first American film ever to show a toilet flushing on screen.

Poltergeist (1982)

The production crew used real human skeletons in the pool because they were cheaper to purchase than plastic ones. JoBeth Williams was hesitant about shooting the swimming pool scene because of the large amount of electrical equipment positioned over and around the pool. In order to comfort her, Steven Spielberg crawled in the pool with her to shoot the screen. Spielberg told her, “Now if a light falls in, we will both fry.” The strategy worked and Williams got in the pool.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The FX bods at Industrial Light & Magic had fun at George Lucas’ expense by including random objects into the asteroid field, including a potato and a shoe.

The Shining (1980)

The number of the spooky room in Stephen King’s novel – 217 – was changed in the film to 237 at the request of the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, which provided the exteriors for the Overlook Hotel and was worried nobody would want to stay in its actual Room 217.

The Terminator (1984)

One afternoon during a break in filming, Arnold Schwarzenegger went into a restaurant in downtown L.A. to get some lunch and realized all too late that he was still in Terminator makeup – with a missing eye, exposed jawbone and burned flesh.

Predator (1987)

The actor who flew ‘da choppa’ away in the last scene of Predator – Kevin Peter Hall – also played the role of The Predator.

Jaws (1975)

During a set visit, George Lucas put his head in Bruce The Shark’s mouth and Steven Spielberg closed the jaws. The prank backfired when the prop malfunctioned and Lucas got stuck.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

The director of Cannibal Holocaust had to prove in court that the actors were still alive and didn’t get killed during the movie.

Star Wars (1977)

Darth Vader is on screen for a mere 12 minutes in the original Star Wars.

Silence Of The Lambs (1992)

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” He then hisses and sucks at Starling in a truly revolting and disturbing manner, forever putting an entire generation off that particular variety of wine. Hollywood rumour says that this hissing was just a joke thrown in by Hopkins. He never intended it to be so frightening, not to mention appearing in the final cut and becoming so utterly conspicuous.

Alien (1979)

The enhance the scale of the Space Jockey in Alien, Ridley Scott filmed his children in miniature space suits.