Tarker's Mills, where the action takes place, is a fictional town within the Stephen King universe. It borders locations of other King's works also adapted to film, such as Chester's Mill (Bajo el domo (2013)), Derry (Eso (1990)) and Castle Rock (Pacto con el diablo (1993), Cujo (1983) and El cementerio maldito (1989)), among others.
According to director Daniel Attias, Gary Busey ad libbed a great deal, for instance when Uncle Red is in the gun shop. Attias checked with Stephen King, who said OK for these ad libs to be included.
This was the first and only film directed by Daniel Attias. For the rest of the 1980s to today he mostly directed TV episodes for some famous shows and hasn't made another theatrical film.
Shooting started without a proper werewolf suit.
Joe Wright became friends with Gary Busey son Jake Busey. Many years later Jake stated: "Corey Haim was in the film and we were the same age, Corey was six months younger than I was. So me being there as a visitor and Corey being there as an employee and the lead kid, we really became friends. We spent a lot of time together, we did a lot of fishing off the piers of Rascoe Beach in North Carolina. We had a really good time. It was before he was a celebrity, before anyone knew who he was. It was kind of one of his first movies, so he hadn't been tainted by the machine yet. We really did hit it off well, and I remember watching him work and thinking we're skateboarding together, we're fishing together, we're on the beaches of North Carolina. We're doing whatever, whatever thirteen year-olds do. Yet, I was on the sidelines watching him and my dad acting, and I remember thinking, "I could do this, I could totally be doing this. That looks really fun. In fact, this is frustrating that I don't get to do it."