Loosely based on the fire-bombing of Brisbane's Whisky Au Go Go nightclub in 1973.
Alex Russells father is a surgeon, who assisted on an operation on the real life person for whom Russell's character Sparra Farrell is based upon.
The film's title refers to the Australian term for "mad as a meat axe" or "crazy/passionate," reflecting what happens when you cut the head off a snake.
When Alex Russell first read for the film in 2010, he was deemed too young to play Sparra Farrell. However, when the film went into production three years later, director Tony Ayres felt he had matured into the perfect age.