Based on a novella by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, second cousin to Leo Tolstoy of "War and Peace" fame. This novella was also the basis of one of the stories in Mario Bava's I tre volti della paura (1963).
Director Giorgio Ferroni was 63 when directing this film and nearly deaf. He had to shoot the film with the assistance of a hearing aid.
The film is set in Yugoslavia. Lead actor Gianni Garko was born in Zara, Croatia, which at the time was part of the Yugoslavian republic.