Based on the Philip K Dick science fiction short story, "Second Variety," Screamers was a low budget movie that was faithful to the plot of Dick's story, but did not flesh it out sufficiently to provide a compelling film. In short, it was intended to be a B-grade scifi flick, and that's what it was. The PKD phenomenon had not invaded the collective Hollywood psyche at that point in history. If it had, the film might have been treated with a little more love.

An important change is that the film is set on an alien planet. The short story was set in the future on Earth, after a war has totally annihilated all life.