In 1981, Errol Morris directed Vernon, Florida - an amazingly surreal 56-minute film (his 2nd) about Vernon's seemingly most eccentric residents. But the movie was originally supposed to be called Nub City, a nickname Vernon got because far too many of its residents were -- dismembering themselves in order to collect insurance. We're talking about chopping off fingers and ears. According to Thomas Lake of the Tampa Bay Times, "Nearly 50 men in Vernon and surrounding areas collected insurance for these so-called accidents." Also from that article -
Morris apparently had to switch the focus of the film because some of these millionaire amputees threatened to end his life if he continued to pursue the film.
Also: Errol Morris uses a pretty weird machine called The Interrotron to do his interviews.
Here's the scoop straight from wikipedia: