!!Film
* BoxOfficeBomb: Only made $7.5 million, on a budget of $8 million. Landis attributed it to the darker tone of the film compared to his previous comedies. The negative publicity surrounding him after ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie'' probably didn't help, nor did the film's [[DumpMonths February]] release date.
* CreatorBacklash: Downplayed with Creator/JeffGoldblum in the "Ed Okin: Requiem for an Insomniac" retrospective shot in 2017 and included on the Blu-Ray release (the uncut interview is available on the ''Shout! Takes'' podcast). He explains that, after watching the film for the first time since it was new, he enjoys it and loved working on it but feels his performance as Ed could have been much better. He chalks this up to being still green as an actor (he'd been in the business for ten-plus years when it was shot but subscribes to his acting teacher Sandy Meisner's opinion that an actor isn't truly one until they've worked at least ''20'' years) and not giving more thought to his character's backstory/motivations, his then-unfamiliarity with FilmNoir and Creator/AlfredHitchcock's body of work meaning he didn't know how to get into the proper spirit of a "funny noir", and his anxiety over playing a lead role in a theatrical film for the first time.
** Conversely, Michelle Pfeiffer isn't fond of the film. In a 2021 interview with Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Parker revealed that it is one of her favorite films, to Pfeiffer's surprise.
* DescendedCreator: Although Creator/JohnLandis often makes cameo appearances in his films, his large role came about through necessity: the Persian actors playing the rest of the four bad guys were unfamiliar with the slapstick tradition, and Landis found it easier to direct them through it if he led by example.
* DuelingWorks: With ''Film/AfterHours'', which was released later in 1985 and is a darker East Coast counterpart.
* HeAlsoDid: Creator/JimHenson's cameo is notable as his only on-screen appearance in a non-Henson-produced film.[[note]]Website/{{IMDB}}'s claim that he has an uncredited cameo in ''Film/ErnestGoesToCamp'' has never been confirmed and doesn't seem very likely.[[/note]]
* RealLifeRelative: The hooker that Creator/MichellePfeiffer shoos away who's trying to pick up Creator/JeffGoldblum is played by her younger sister Dedee.
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The script originally written by Ron Koslow in 1981 and sold to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, but the studio passed on it and Creator/{{Universal}} picked it up in 1984.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Even the uber-rich didn't bother with cellphones in 1985.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/JackNicholson was offered the role of Ed Okin, but turned it down. He told Creator/JohnLandis, "I like it and I like you. [[PinballProtagonist But this guy doesn't really do anything.]] The audience likes the leading man to take action." Creator/GeneHackman agreed to do it, but Universal thought that he wasn't a big enough box-office draw because he'd had a couple of box office failures at the time.
** Landis originally cast Creator/JamieLeeCurtis for the role of Diana; she had previously appeared in ''Film/TradingPlaces''. However, weeks before shooting she backed out to do ''Film/{{Perfect|1985}}'' instead.
** Creator/JeffGoldblum was cast as Ed due to his role in ''Film/TheBigChill''-- the studio had looked to cast Creator/TomBerenger or Creator/KevinKline, his co-stars. Since neither was available they settled on Goldblum!
** Creator/JimHenson appears because Creator/FrankOz (who had previously worked with Landis in ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' and ''Film/TradingPlaces'') wasn't available, but didn't want to let Landis down, and so recruited Henson to replace him.
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