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The picture was a rare entry into the horror-thriller genre of director John Schlesinger whose only other films in these genres were The Believers (1987) and for television The Tale of Sweeney Todd (1997). This movie also can be categorized as a suspense-thriller with Schlesinger also directing Marathon Man (1976) and Eye for an Eye (1996) in this genre.
Screenwriter Daniel Pyne once rented an apartment to a tenant that he could not evict. The film was inspired from this scenario.
The home of Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine's characters is not in Pacific Heights at all, but right across town in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district at the corner of Texas Street and 19th Street.
In the original script, Carter (Michael Keaton) was a bisexual man who sexually threatens Drake (Matthew Modine) and Patty (Melanie Griffith).
Christopher Reeve unsuccessfully lobbied John Schlesinger personally for the "Carter Hayes" role.
Melanie Griffith didn't like the experience of filming this movie, and made some complaints about it while she was filming The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), which started filming a few days after this film had been completed.