Better Off Dead/Trivia
- Actor Allusion: When Beth (Amanda Wyss) shows up at the dance, there is someone behind her wearing Freddy Krueger's sweater. Wyss played Krueger's first victim in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- The Cameo: Twiki from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century appears in the background of the Christmas scene. Also an Actor Allusion of sorts -- Mel Blanc, the voice of Barney Rubble (who appears briefly on TV and addresses Lane) is also the voice of Twiki.
- Hey, It's That Guy!:
- Elizabeth Daily, the voice of Tommy and Buttercup, appears as the singer in the New Years dance.
- Also, Lane's father is Major Winchester.
- Also also, Lane's mom is Miri and Mattie Ross.
- Charles is Dudley Dawson!
- Vincent Schiavelli as Mr. Kerber, the math teacher.
- Didn't that truck driver own a strip joint near Angel Beach?
- Old Shame: For decades John Cusack refused to discuss this film and One Crazy Summer. As of the late 2010s, though, he seems to have relaxed about it.
- Hey, It's That Voice!:
- Subversion: Rich Little as the voice of the Korean guy who learned to speak English from Howard Cosell.
- Mel Blanc, as Barney Rubble.
- Spiritual Successor: John Cusack traveled back in time to a 1980s ski resort in Hot Tub Time Machine. Somebody is even heard shouting "I want my two dollars!" at one point.
- This is despite the fact that Cusack at the time considered this film to be an Old Shame.
- Cusack's protagonist in Grosse Pointe Blank also grew up in the 1980s and also had a Hilariously Abusive Childhood. He ended up becoming a professional assassin. We first meet him shooting a bicycle deliveryman.