At the beginning of the film, a Fangoria Magazine featuring Heather Langenkamp on the cover can be seen in the Burne Brothers prison cell just before she appears on the television.
Heather Langenkamp is best known for playing Nancy in three installments of A Nightmare On Elm Street including the original (1984), A Nightmare On Elm Street III: Dream Warriors (1986), and Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). Director Robert Kurtzman worked on New Nightmare with her with his F/X company KNB along with Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger. Andras Jones was in A Nightmare On Elm Street IV: The Dream Master (1988). Also, Bruce Abbott starred in Bad Dreams (1986) with Heather's co-star from Dream Warriors, Jennifer Rubin, the same year as Dream Warriors with a similar premise.
Several nods to slasher movie characters throughout this cast of characters such as the last names Lloyd and Carruthers for Danielle Harris' Jamie in Halloweens 4 and 5; Higgins for the last name of heroine Chris (Dana Kimmell) in Friday The 13th Part 3; Roland perhaps for "Roland Kincaid" (Ken Sagoes) in Elm Streets 3 and 4; and a Father McKenzie most likely for Halloween's famous line "Go down the street to the McKenzie's house..." said by Jamie Lee Curtis' babysitter character.
An alternate title considered for this movie was "The Phoenix" - in reference to how its lead character keeps rising from the ashes.