Sadly, actor Sid Haig (who played Captain Spaulding) died only five days after this film was released theatrically.
Director Rob Zombie revealed in an interview that his original script featured a much larger role for Captain Spaulding, played by actor Sid Haig. However, upon receiving word that Haig was in the hospital recovering from surgery, Zombie visited him at the rehabilitation facility and was alarmed by the drastic changes in his physique, most notably that he had lost a significant amount of weight. Zombie realized that Haig's health was in serious question, and he was forced to reconsider Captain Spaulding's prominence in the story while keeping Haig in the film since Lionsgate was going to shut down the film without Haig in it. After numerous rewrites, Zombie introduced the character Foxy Coltrane, played by frequent collaborator Richard Brake, as a way of filling in for the 3rd Firefly Family member without necessarily replacing Captain Spaulding altogether. Ironically, Zombie did not speak to Haig after he shot his role until his death.
The movie poster featuring the black and white eyes, mugshot style photos across the bottom, and striking red font is meant to be a reference to the poster for 1976's Helter Skelter (1976).
(at around 1h 28 mins) In the film the song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida plays. This same song was requested by Bill Moseley's character Chop Top in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986).