Trivia

Sir Ian McKellen admitted he was surprised to be asked to play 75-year-old Kurt Dussander, since he was nearing 60 at the time of production.

The movie is based on a novella by Stephen King from a book of short stories called "Different Seasons", which also includes "The Body", which became Stand by Me (1986), and "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption", which became Les Évadés (1994).

Brad Renfro was only fourteen at the time of filming.

In an interview around the time that this movie was released, Sir Ian McKellen said "I didn't like my character. He didn't seem very deep. He just seemed to be a representative of evil."

There had been talk of a movie version in 1984. James Mason agreed to play Kurt, but died from a heart attack before filming could begin. Richard Burton was considered as his replacement, but he died from a cerebral hemorrhage before he could accept the part. The first attempt to film this story in 1987 ran over budget and was stopped after six weeks of shooting, while only ten days of filming remained. According to Stephen King, who saw a rough cut of three-quarters of the movie, "it was really good". It starred Ricky Schroder as Todd Bowden and Nicol Williamson as Kurt Dussander, and was directed by Alan Bridges.