Director
Jim Wynorski first got the idea of remaking the film after he found an original print of
Roger Corman's
1957 original. He wagered that he could remake the film on the original shooting schedule and budget, adjusted for inflation. The film was reportedly originally going to be a musical comedy. When it came to casting for the film, Wynorski said he came up with who should play the lead almost immediately: While we were at an optical house doing some effects work for
Big Bad Mama II (1987), I came across an original print of the old Corman film.
Kelli Maroney was there, and
Raven, and we had a big hoot watching it. So I said "I think we could have a blast remaking this picture." And they said "Well, who are you going to get to play the
Beverly Garland part?" There were some newspapers lying around, and I saw a story in one of them about Traci Lords. So I said "Let's get Traci Lords!" She even looks a little bit like Beverly Garland. The director admitted part of the reason he cast Lords in the film was because he knew it would result in a certain amount of publicity. But he ended up being impressed with her acting ability, saying, "believe it or not she can act. And she's trying to change her image." Filming took 12 days. Wynorski finished one day ahead of schedule so used the last day to refilm some of Lord's scenes. "She'd improved so much since the first day of filming", said the director. Like any number of Roger Corman productions, this one includes scenes lifted from earlier films as filler, such as the dog in the foggy woods and the woman being stalked from outside her home, as originally seen in
Humanoids from the Deep, as well as the scene of the caped, knife-wielding stalker from
Hollywood Boulevard. ==Release==