During pre-production the website featured in the film was called Fear.com, even though the producers did not own that site in real life. They sought to acquire the domain from its owners, but were told it was not for sale at any price, resulting in the website's name in the film being changed to Feardotcom.com.
In Pratt's flat the 'mutilated' bodies are genuine human remains, converted into artworks by the German sculptor Gunther von Hagens.
feardotcom.com was/is the location of the film's official website.
Glass display cabinets containing body parts from House on Haunted Hill (1999) can be spotted.
The film centres on a woman who has haemophilia. While the condition predominantly affects men, there are documented instances of women with haemophilia.
The Polidori character shares his name with the surgeon to Lord Byron, who was present the night that Mary Shelley conceived the idea for 'Frankenstein'. Dr Polidori also appears as a character in 'Frankenstein the True Story' (1973), which also starred Michael Sarrazin. Sarrazin refers to the Polidori character as 'Polly Dolly' in both films, and in each film Polidori is killed by electricity.
Several of the sets were left over from the 2001 action film "The Musketeer", which was also produced by the same studio.
The film was initially given an NC-17 rating for extreme violence, but was later reclassified as R for violent content, including graphic torture scenes, nudity and strong language.
In the opening scene the name 'Dr. Gogol' is scrawled on a wall at an Underground station. It's a nod to Mad Love (1935), another film about a deranged surgeon.
In a 2009 interview with JoBlo, William Malone reflected on his experience making the film. He said the concept had been brought to him and, although he wasn’t particularly fond of the script, he regarded the idea as worthwhile and something that could be turned into an intriguing, odd film. He was told a number of things about the production that never materialised — for example that they would spend more time on the screenplay — and with an actors' strike looming they were rushed into production. There was a point when he considered quitting: he weighed up whether to leave and risk being labelled the director who walked away, or to continue and possibly end up with a film he would be less happy with. He also noted that not making the picture would put many people out of work, so he decided to do the best he could with what was available. He praised the actors' performances and described the cinematography as some of the most wonderful he had been involved with. He said there are good things in the finished film and that he ought to watch it again, as he hadn’t seen it for quite some time. While shooting he often felt that nothing much happened in the film, so his approach was to create a piece of horror focused on tone and mood — the intention was to sustain a consistent, strange and unsettling atmosphere.
Although Franchise Pictures is credited as a production company, the studio only became involved late in post-production and used its deal with Warner Bros. to secure a cinema release in the United States.
The film's critical and financial failure harmed William Malone's directorial career; he went on to direct just one further film — Parasomnia (2008), released 6 years later — before retiring.
In a 2013 interview, Stephen Dorff said he regretted appearing in the film and subsequently disavowed it, as its failure was particularly damaging to his acting career.
Stephen Dorff and Udo Kier likewise appeared in the film 'Blade'.
The film is commonly credited with a budget of around US$40 million. However, in a recent audio commentary, director William Malone said the true figure was closer to US$12–13 million. That claim is consistent with allegations made against the film's production company, Franchise Productions, which was charged with fraudulent accounting and has since gone bankrupt.
