Producer Sean S. Cunningham originally envisioned a Jason vs. Freddy Krueger crossover film, but after Paramount's rights negotiation issues with New Line, that idea was put on hold and instead became a separate script, with the crossover eventually realized as Freddy vs. Jason in 2003.

When New Line Cinema acquired the rights to Jason Voorhees from Paramount, Paramount forgot to include the rights to the 'Friday the 13th' title itself, which is why the film's title omits the franchise name.

Director Adam Marcus claims Sean Cunningham insisted he had to remove Jason's iconic hockey mask for the film, though Cunningham has denied ever giving that direction.

The original pitch for the film featured Jason's father Elias Voorhees digging up his son's body and eating his heart to gain his powers, but this idea was scrapped when writer Dean Lorey was brought in to rewrite the script in just four days, deciding Jason himself needed to remain the central character.

Character Steven Freeman was originally written to be Tommy Jarvis from earlier films in the series, but since New Line only owned the rights to Jason and not to Tommy Jarvis, the character had to be renamed and rewritten.

Tony Todd auditioned for the role of bounty hunter Creighton Duke, but the part ultimately went to Steven Williams.

Laurie Holden was the first choice of director Adam Marcus and writer Dean Lorey for the role of Jessica Kimble, but producer Sean Cunningham overruled them and cast Kari Keegan instead.

A shower scene involving actress Kari Keegan led to a dispute after she refused to perform nudity, resulting in Adam Marcus being removed from the set, with Cunningham stepping in to direct the film's final days himself and reshooting roughly half of the movie.

Cunningham requested that the film be shot at twenty-two frames per second instead of the standard twenty-four.

Director Adam Marcus revealed years later that he intended an Easter egg suggesting Jason Voorhees is secretly connected to the Evil Dead franchise, implying Pamela Voorhees used the Necronomicon to resurrect her son, an idea he says Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi loved despite New Line not owning the rights to feature it overtly.

The film features the Kandarian dagger and the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, both props borrowed from the Evil Dead II franchise.

The final shot of the film, showing Freddy Krueger's clawed glove bursting from the ground to drag away Jason's mask, was an early reference to the long-gestating Freddy vs. Jason crossover, which had been in development since 1987 and wasn't released until 2003.

Special effects were handled by Al Magliochetti and the studio KNB, with Magliochetti joining the project after friends at KNB alerted him to its development; director Adam Marcus personally chose the colors used for the visual effects.

In the 2017 video game Friday the 13th: The Game, Jason's mask design from this film had to be mirrored because the movie mistakenly placed his damaged eye on the wrong side compared to previous continuity.