Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Accidentally Crashed a Helicopter

A movie about killer tomatoes was just as bizarre a notion in 1978 as it is now. It was a satire of horror movies like The Birds or Frogs, in which a scary creature goes on a murderous rampage against humans. It was tomatoes in this instance. Despite having a meager $90,000 budget, the film became cult classic and even inspired a few sequels, one of which starred George Clooney in 1988.

There's a really violent action scene involving a helicopter crash early on in the movie. It was actually quite spectacular for a $90,000 movie in the 1970s. And the reason is that it was an utter error. They accidentally crashed that helicopter, which cost $60,000 in total. More of the film's budget was spent on it than on any other component of production. The benefit is that nobody was seriously hurt, and they managed to capture the most realistic helicopter crash ever likely to be seen on video.

• Cost: $60,000