Writer/director C. Courtney Joyner had a lot of problems working with Jon Finch. Finch wouldn't even listen to the basic directorial commands such as "cut" or "action" and wanted to do things for his character of Bennett his way. Joyner has said that he regrets not being more in control as a director, and has gone on to say that he chalks it up as one of his rookie mistakes.
David Hemmings was originally chosen for the role of Bennett, but Jon Finch got the part instead, after it was decided that Hemmings, who had just directed a film that turned out to be a hit, would most likely not want to listen to a new director and do things his own way. Ironically, as it turned out, that's precisely what Finch did.
A dispute over the film's budget lead to the production company, Full Moon Entertainment, being cut off from their partnership with Paramount, which had released several Full Moon films onto videocassette since 1989, starting with the original Puppet Master (1989). Alien Desperados (1994) would be the last Full Moon movie to see a video release from Paramount.
Was originally to be made by producer Charles Band's earlier company Empire Pictures and to be directed by Stuart Gordon. Gordon's version was to have been a tribute to the Warner Bros. gangster films of the 1930s. Barbara Crampton was also set to star in this version as a wisecracking reporter.