The Dark Goodbye was shot in a day and a half at one location, which was provided by a cast member.
The scene with the teenage girl's reflection in the knife was very difficult to do. The knife was suspended on a stand using a large clip. The shooting angle had to be adjusted several times so that Isabella's reflection could be captured.
In the original draft, the teenage girl was going to be riding a bike while wearing a red backpack. When the filmmakers realized it was going to be raining throughout her day of shooting, they changed her prop to a red umbrella.
The red "negative effect" was discovered on accident while editing the film. The Director / Editor liked it, so he kept it.
The film's first showing to a live audience was at Joe's Grille in Fishers, Indiana.