10 Horror Movie Scenes That Broke The Camera

Stephen King's directorial debut, 1986's cult classic horror Maximum Overdrive, proved a traumatic enough experience for King that he got sued, went on to disown the film, and vowed to never direct again. And once you know what happened on the set, you'll definitely appreciate why.

Unfortunately, this is the one entry on this list where a human being ended up suffering undeniable harm due to a stunt gone wrong, which additionally ended up destroying a camera also.

For the sequence where a lawnmower comes to life and starts killing the residents of a suburban neighbourhood, King wanted the mower to drive extremely close to the camera lens, and when concerned cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi recommended removing the mower's blades for safety's sake, King refused, wanting to see the glint of the blades, even though they wouldn't be visible in the shot.

And then, disaster struck.

An effects malfunction caused the mower to drive into the camera at higher speed than expected, chewing through the matte box and doing a number on the camera body itself. But the real tragedy followed, when the mower made contact with a wooden wedge, instantly splintering it and causing one of said splinters to fire directly into Nannuzzi's eye.

This led to Nannuzzi losing his eye, effectively ending his career as a Hollywood cinematographer, at which point you have to ask yourself, "Who cares about a damn camera?"