Susan was loosely based on actress and "scream queen" Brinke Stevens. Stevens talked about how that happened it in an interview. "Shortly after director Sam Irvin had completed his first film, Guilty As Charged (1991), I sent him my lavish PR package to get him better acquainted with me. When he went into preproduction on his next picture, Acting On Impulse, he apparently handed my information to a writer and told him to pattern the lead female character after me. As a result, "Susan Giddes" is supposed to be Hollywood's reigning Scream Queen. She drives a black '54 convertible (I drive a black '56 T-Bird convertible) and carries leopard-print luggage (as I do), dresses in sexy black clothes and screams a lot in B-movies. When it came time to cast the film, however, the executive producers felt I wasn't a big enough star to play myself! So actress Linda Fiorentino was hired for the role. Sam asked me to do a special guest cameo as a cocktail waitress who serves Linda, Nancy Allen, and C. Thomas Howell. He genuinely thought my fans would appreciate the irony of seeing the real Scream Queen face-to-face with the cinematic one. In retrospect, Linda Fiorentino lent her own bawdy flair to the role and did a magnificent job. (But I dubbed all of her screams for that movie!)."
A TV movie for the Showtime network.
Brinke Stevens said the most disappointing thing about this project was they didn't ask her to take her clothes off.