The party scene near the end of the film runs forty-two minutes long. It was shot over the course of twenty-one days from the time the sun set to the time it rose. After it wrapped, the crew had t-shirts made that read "I SURVIVED SCENE 118" (which was the name of the scene during shooting). The cast and crew jokingly called it "The longest night in horror history."
Courteney Cox approached the production to pursue the role. She was interested in playing a "bitch" character to offset her "nice" Friends (1994) image. This image was the main reason why the producers initially refused to consider Cox for the part. Cox continued to lobby the studio as she felt she could believably play the character. Her efforts ultimately succeeded.
(At around twelve minutes) At the beginning of the movie when Casey's (Drew Barrymore's) parents come home to find something is wrong, her father tells her mother to "go to the McKenzies'", which is the same thing Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) told Lindsey (Kyle Richards) and Tommy (Brian Andrews) to do in Halloween (1978), of which this movie contains many references.
The high school scenes were to be shot at Santa Rosa High School in California. However, very close to the shooting date, the school board read the script and denied the film to be shot there due to the violent nature, as they had been under the impression the film was a comedy, and production was moved to Healdsburg, California. As payback, director Wes Craven put in the end credits under the "Special Thanks" section, "NO THANKS WHATSOEVER TO THE SANTA ROSA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD."
Matthew Lillard was cast as Stu Macher by chance after accompanying his then-girlfriend to an unrelated audition taking place elsewhere in the same building. Casting director Lisa Beach saw Lillard in the hallway and asked him to audition for the part. He got into the role with "incredible ferocity".
Linda Blair: (At around thirty-nine minutes) The auburn reporter who says, "People want to know, they have a right to know." She starred in another classic horror film, The Exorcist (1973). Wes Craven had cast her in Summer of Fear (1978).
Wes Craven: (At around fifty-two minutes) Fred, the janitor. He's wearing a red and green striped sweater, just like Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise. They are also the actual clothes from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).