According to the DVD, this movie was made when a proposed concert tour with various punk musicians failed to get funding. Realizing it was easier to get money for a film than for a large scale tour, and with all the musicians having their schedules free, this film was produced instead of a tour.
Alex Cox turned down several high-profile Hollywood productions, including RoboCop (1987) and Running Man (1987), to make this film.
The film's premiere was a disaster, as many people left midway through the film.
At the very end after the credits a title comes up that says "COMING SOON: BACK TO HELL", yet they never made this sequel.
The little jingle that plays when the coffee addicts are getting ready to fix is from Maxwell House coffee commercials from the 60s and 70s.