The horror film showing on the TV early in the movie is There's Nothing Out There (1991), the first film made by director Rolfe Kanefsky.
The police negotiator in the film, played by Carol Kane, mentions that she herself was a hostage long ago in Brooklyn, New York. Carol Kane played a hostage in a bank robbery in Dog Day Afternoon (1975).
The sarcastic video store employee, Jay, is named after writer/director Jay Woelfel who is a friend of Rolfe Kanefsky, the director of this film. Woelfel also worked on the music for this film.