The film was originally announced in January 1981 newspaper reports to begin shooting in February of that year. During the planning stages, the original aim was to use live snakes for portions of the attack sequences. Herpetologist and snake wrangler Bob Zappalorti was going to provide the reptiles and Raymond Mendez, a well known model-maker, insect wrangler, and photographer would create hand puppets for close-ups. A 14 foot Indian Rock Python was bought and stored in NYC for almost a year before the idea of using real reptiles was discarded.