The house used in the film was an actual house in the woods of Newton, New Jersey. No one had lived there for 15 years prior to filming. The previous owner of the home was murdered there.
Prior to filming, a dead body was found in the house used in the film.
In the director's commentary, Charles Kaufman said that while shooting a scene Billy Ray McQuade (Addley) was so hung-over from drinking the night before that he threw up on Rose Ross (Mother). Naturally, shooting the scene had to be postponed.
Charles Kaufman, in the director's commentary, said that a very ironic thing happened during filming: an actress who played one of the victims and one of the actors who played a son hit it off and starting dating when not filming - even though his character terrorizes and brutalizes her. Concerned that neither would be able to project the sense of terror needed, Kaufman asked them to postpone their relationship until after the film wrapped. They complied.