Emerson Bixby, the director of the movie, wrote the following on a now-defunct message board post: "Dead End was never released. I shot it on video with a budget of maybe fifteen hundred dollars, made several copies to send to small-time distribution companies, and nothing ever happened. None of the distributors responded, and the ten or so copies kept by myself and some of the crew are - to my knowledge - all that remains of Dead End. My copy was lost in 1987, and I have lost contact with pretty much everyone involved."
Dedicated to the memory of Marsha Duke.
The scene where the zombie baby crawls back into its dying mother's womb was accomplished with a concealed trapdoor between Rachel McBride's legs, and a latex appliance covering her stomach. The latex was expanded as the baby vanished from view, giving the illusion it was crawling back inside her. This is the only scene in the film in which real blood was not used.
The scene where Brenda Epps vomits was not scripted or rehearsed. She had become increasingly ill due to the film's constant blood and violence, and ultimately was unable to complete filming.