To warn people he was filming, Robert Rodriguez would place a sign at the end of the street he was shooting on. He wrote it in English so no one would understand what it meant.
For the moving camera shots, Robert Rodriguez sat in a broken hospital wheelchair and was pushed around.
Robert Rodriguez was producer, director, writer, special-effect man, etc, the only job he didn't do was act, as there would be no one else to operate the camera.
While the production budget for the film was $7,000, Robert Rodriguez estimated that if he didn't have to pay for film, processing and telecine costs, it would have only cost $600.
This film initially cost $7000 to make. Director Robert Rodriguez raised $3,000 of the $7,000 by volunteering to be a human "laboratory rat". He was used to test a cholesterol reducing drug. Paid $100 a day for 30 days, he wrote most of the script while locked in the lab. Peter Marquardt was a fellow "rat", but could not speak Spanish. He delivered his lines from card held in his hand or out of shot. Most of the $7,000 was spent on film for the camera. The version seen in most cinemas has had approximately $1 million of post-production work and promotion behind it.