According to co-writer and director David Lynch, the first scene in the film is based on an incident that occurred in his own life. He claims his intercom buzzed early one morning and when he answered it, a voice on the other end that he didn't recognize said, "Dick Laurant is dead." However, by the time he got to the front of the house to look out the window, there was no one outside.
Robert Loggia was the first (and only) choice to play the character of Mr. Eddy because of his former desire to play Frank Booth in Blue Velvet (1986). In 1985, Loggia showed up for an audition on the set of Blue Velvet, unaware that Dennis Hopper had already been cast, and proceeded to wait for three hours, growing increasingly agitated. Upon seeing Lynch, and learning of Hopper's casting, Loggia proceeded to give an extremely profane and angry rant to Lynch for making him wait only to tell him that the role had already been cast, which remained in Lynch's head for nearly eight years as what would eventually become Mr. Eddy's road rage scene. Nearly eight years later, Loggia received a phone call from Lynch requesting his performance for this movie. Loggia was more than happy to accept.
In 2002, director David Lynch said he had only recently realized what subconsciously inspired the film. It was the O.J. Simpson trial. Lynch said that the trial was a major influence on his mind during the stage of writing this script, which deals with a man who was accused of killing his wife. Curiously enough, Lynch cast Robert Blake to play the Mystery Man, who is a major character in the film. Several years later, Blake was put on trial for killing his own wife.
After Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film a negative review on their show, David Lynch issued a new poster calling the thumbs-down verdict "two more reasons to see Lost Highway." Asked for his opinion, Siskel said, "I found it petty."
The house, in which Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) lives, along with most of the furniture in it, belongs to, and was designed by, David Lynch.
David Lynch: [highway at night] Used numerous times in many scenes, usually signifying some kind of transition of the plot. Also used as a background for main titles and end credits. This also happens in one of Lynch's later films, Mulholland Drive (2001).
David Lynch: [Music by composer Angelo Badalamenti] Badalamenti's music score in this film provides hard edge, distorted, and sinister melodies in some scenes. This type of music can be heard in other Lynch films such as Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), The Straight Story (1999), and Mulholland Drive (2001).