The diner Michele works at in the beginning has a sign that only says "EAT", a fact which was mocked by Mystery Science Theater 3000. People who've never driven cross-country wouldn't be aware, but big "EAT" signs are actually common among roadside diners like that.
The Haunted House club and discotheque did actually exist on Hollywood Blvd. in the mid-60's — given the movie's cheap production values, they could hardly afford to outfit an entire set with Halloween dressing. (Ironically, reflecting the rather seedy nature of the film, it was later converted into a porno theater in the 70's, and exists today as a strip club.)
Ass Pull: Oh, did we mention that Critter's a crack fighter? No? Well, he is.
Hilarious in Hindsight: "Only a couple of people pack [guns] in this city, and most of 'em are cops!" Heheh, sure, Leo; no one's packing heat in Los Angeles.
Aside from go-go dancing and dodgingthe Vietnam draft being major components of the plot, several real-world things dated this film very fast.
The Haunted House was a popular Hollywood Blvd. nightspot in the mid-60's, but by just 1971 it would already be sold, stripped, renovated, and reopened as the Cave Adult Movie Theatre.
Harry Blatz has both outward mobility and key knowledge of the prison because he's a trustee, and thus an invaluable inside man. In 1971, the attorney Roy Haber would file the class action leading to Gates v. Collier, which would be decided in 1974 and bring an end to California's trustee system, among many other states.
One of the movie billboards is for Doctor Dolittle and Camelot playing at the Cinerama Dome; along with the Christmas decorations, this pinpoints the driving footage as shot in December 1967.
Values Dissonance: Critter becoming a draft dodger for The Vietnam War is treated (at least by himself) as being an unforgivable act which will put him on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Michelle even seems more disgusted that Critter is a draft dodger than the fact that her boss is a sleazy violent mobbed-up drug dealer who has already gotten her to smoke pot and is showing signs of wanting to pimp her out (go meet customers, go to parties, etc). Although the draft was unpopular, the movie was filmed in 1968, when draft dodgers were prosecuted if discovered. President Richard Nixon ended the draft in 1973, President Gerald Ford offered conditional amnesty to persons who had dodged the draft, with President Jimmy Carter giving an unconditional pardon to all draft dodgers in 1977. This makes Critter's treatment of draft-dodging as such a horrible crime seem a little strange from a modern perspective.note Even then Critter is playing it up a bit much. The Most Wanted list is Exactly What It Says on the Tin: a list of international terrorists, serial killers, kiddy porn producers, and other people horrible enough to be considered the Most Wanted criminals. If draft dodging was all it took to be lumped in with that crowd the Ten Most Wanted would be more like the Ten Thousand Most Wanted.
