The movie was a box-office failure worldwide. But in Scandinavia it did fairly well on rental. In Norway, it even gained a minor dedicated fan base and has since been considered a cult-movie.
Billy Idol was cast as Smiley, but had to pull out of the role after a nearly-fatal motorcycle accident. Renny Harlin personally asked Robert Englund, who had previously worked with him on Nightmare 4 - Il non risveglio (1988), to take over the role after Idol's accident. Idol's song "Cradle of Love" is playing when the fraternity sister takes Ford Fairlane and Zuzu Petals to her house.
Fairlane comments about being banned by MTV, which banned Andrew Dice Clay for life in 1988. The ban was lifted several years later.
As with most films featuring a stand-up comic in the lead role, bits of Andrew Dice Clay's routine are in the film. They include asking the two guys in the club "What're names? Neil and Bob? Or is that like what you do?", the blabbering noise he makes after the first time he leaves Johnny Crunch's radio station, and referring to his genitals as "Stanley The Power Drill".