This film is reputed to be one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films. A scene in the film Kill Bill. La venganza (volumen 1) (2003) shows an airplane window with a red sky outside just like the opening scene in this film.
This film was released in Japan on August 14, 1968. It was released by Shochiku Films of America in the United States in 1969. When re-released to television and home video in the U.S., it was retitled "Body Snatcher from Hell". Another title for the film is "Goke the Vampire".
This film was released on DVD in the U.S. by The Criterion Collection in a four-film box set titled "Eclipse Series #37: When Horror Came to Shochiku" on November 20, 2012. The other three films in the set are Uchû daikaijû Girara (1967), Kyûketsu dokuro-sen (1968), and Konchû daisensô (1968).