An urban folklore exists that suggests that there was an alternate ending that alters the identity of the killer. An alternate ending does not exist, but the original ending was indeed re-filmed, when the initial release audience complained that the face of the killer was not clearly shown. In the original release, the unmasked killer's face was shown for eighteen frames (less than a second). Another nine seconds was later spliced into the corrected version, clearly resolving the mystery and showing the killer.
According to Joe Eszterhas in his book "Hollywood Animal", producer Martin Ransohoff was against the casting of Glenn Close saying she was too ugly for the part. Close eventually heard about this and said she didn't want Ransohoff on set during the time she would shoot her scenes. Director Richard Marquand stood by her side and sent Ransohoff away. Infuriated, Ransohoff went to the studio heads trying to get Close and Marquand fired from the picture. The studio denied the action stating they were pleased with their work in the film.
Some weeks after Siskel and Ebert had reviewed the movie on their show, they returned to the movie to address complaints of those who were unable to recognize the face of the killer in the last scene, so they gave their viewers time to turn down the sound and then explained who the killer was.
Jane Fonda was originally attached to play the female lead. When she demanded that changes be made to Joe Eszterhas' script, the studio sided with Eszterhas and replaced her with Glenn Close.
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