Wes Craven compared his work with actor Ernest Borgnine to John Carpenter's work with Donald Pleasance in the original "Halloween". He states that Borgnine was the first "big name actor" he had worked with and was at first intimidated by the actor.
The snake sequence in the bathtub was revisited by director Wes Craven after this film with "A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)" where the reptile instead was replaced with the finger-knives hand of Fred Krueger.
When Jeff East meets Susan Buckner in town, the marquee at the theatre shows the title "Summer of Fear" (aka Summer of Fear (1978)), a made-for-TV movie by Wes Craven in which East also starred.
Ernest Borgnine had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for a head injury following a mishap involving a horse and buggy. However, Borgnine returned to the set to continue acting in the film three days later.