According to director Rusty Lemorande, only the first eight minutes of this film were directed by him. The rest of it is the sequel to the Kathy Ireland vehicle Alien from L.A. (1988) directed by Albert Pyun, which was tacked on by the producers and renamed "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in order to fulfill contracts with foreign distributors.
Director Albert Pyun hated how the studio took his film from him and spliced it with another film to just to have it released. Because of this he has disowned it and his name doesn't appear on any official releases.
Kathy Ireland's character's name "Wanda Saknussemm" is a reference to "Arne Saknussemm," the Icelandic alchemist and explorer from Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" whose cryptic message sets the explorers on the path to the center of the Earth.
Filming began in 1986, final release was in 1989.
Although not credited, George Clinton's scores for two other Cannon movies, Avenging Force and American Ninja 2, were reused on this film to cut costs.