The young Linda is seen with posters of George Harrison (executive producer of this movie) and David Bowie (star of director Nicolas Roeg's hit The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)) on her bedroom wall.
After screening the dailies of Gary Oldman screaming at the beginning of the film, projectionist Herbert Gambill suggested to the producer they use the John Lennon song "Mother" to accompany the scene, as both the scene and the song suggested primal scream therapy. The editors added it as temporary music and it wound up in the released film.
One of seven films that actress Theresa Russell made with director Nicolas Roeg. The others being Eureka (1983), Cold Heaven (1991), Hotel Paradise (1995), Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980), Insignificance (1985), and the "Un ballo in maschera" segment of Aria (1987).
A few years earlier in 1983, director Joseph Losey planned to make a film out of Dennis Potter's screenplay with Lee Marvin in a leading role. It would have been Losey's first film in his native USA for over 30 years. At the last minute, financing fell through. Losey died the following year.
Director Nicolas Roeg makes a number of references to Cape Fear (1962) and the film opens with a shot of the same bridge from that movie.