 The unfinished second draft of "Runaway Nightmare" was rushed into production by Mike Cartel after having taken over direction of his ailing film project, "Bitter Heritage" in late 1978.With a 48-hour turnaround and pre-production, "Runaway Nightmare" began filming with the same "Bitter Heritage" crew and location set.For casting, Cartel asked actors Al Valetta and Georgia Durante from "Bitter Heritage" to join the production while Cartel's wife, Mari filled most of the actress roles with model/actress acquaintances from her days as a Jack LaLanne health spa manager and aerobics teacher.