Writer/director/producer Danny Steinmann was the son of noted East Coast art collector Herbert R. Steinmann. Danny made his debut as both writer and director with the funky hardcore porno picture High Rise (1973), on which he used the alias Danny Stone. Steinmann was a production associate on Arthur Hiller's The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) and served as an associate producer on the offbeat Gene Roddenberry made-for-TV supernatural fright feature Spectre (1977). In addition, Danny headed a production company in Puerto Rico that made TV commercials for such companies as International House of Pancakes, Chase Manhattan Bank and Wesson Oil.

Danny directed and co-wrote the perverse psycho horror winner The Unseen (1980). Dissatisfied with the finished version of the film, Steinmann attributed his directorial credit to the pseudonym Peter Foleg. He followed this film with the terrifically trashy teen exploitation action/revenge thriller doozy Savage Streets (1984). Steinmann hit the relative big time with the mean-spirited slice-'n'-dice sequel Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985). Although the movie was a financial success, the production was very troubled and proved to be his cinematic swan song. He was announced as the director for a proposed sequel to the notorious The Last House on the Left (1972) but, alas, this project never came to be.