The "fish hook scene" was inspired by a bizarre, but most likely fictitious, story that one of Eric Widing's high school friends told about an ex girlfriend's strange sexual preferences.
The finished script is a compilation of several script ideas that Eric Widing had in his mind for years. The final scene is taken almost directly from a finished, but unfilmed script titled "Depravity," which also featured a sadistic female thug who partly inspired the character Valerie. Many of the ideas involving heavy alcoholism and the loss of sanity were taken from a story idea titled "The Broiled Rung," which was also a working titled for this film. Throughout 2013, after working with her on Babysitter Massacre, Widing had a few script ideas in mind for movies that would star Marylee Osborne, including one that was meant to be similar to The Catcher In the Rye, but with a female lead, along with a story about a woman living in a drug house, who massacres a group of thugs in retribution for the death of her friend. Elements from these story ideas made their way into Primordial's finished script.
In her bedroom, Valerie has posters of The Dresden Dolls, Jasper the Colossal, Brody Dalle, Jennifer Connelly, Doro Pesch, Bruce Lee, Blondie, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Amon Amarth, an illustrated collage of various 80s metal musicians, South Park, the films The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange, The Outlaw Josey Wales, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fury, Fight Club and a printout of Eric Widing's character from Awkward Thanksgiving, a film in which Marylee Osborne also appears.
Eric Widing originally considered playing the role of Smiddy before casting Josh Miller in the role.
Tony wears two band shirts in the film, the main one being an Obituary 2013 tour shirt that features a combination of artwork from their albums "Slowly We Rot," "Cause of Death," and "The End Complete." During the confrontation scene with Smiddy he wears an Emperor shirt featuring artwork of their album "In the Nightside Eclipse."