For many years the picture was one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time.
The theatrical movie was well known for its signature song played during the disco sequence, the disco classic "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges. Due to licensing issues however, the song has been removed from most TV broadcasts and all DVD transfers, and replaced by a cover version of "The Man That I Love." The Bridges song is still listed though in the closing credits, and is heard on the original trailer (included on the DVD) which had it excerpted no less than three times. Fans of the song and the movie worldwide have been furious about its removal from the DVD release. Fortunately, "I Love the Nightlife" was restored for the Region 1 Blu-ray released by Shout! Factory in 2015.
The movie was made and released a few years after another 1970s mainstream horror spoof, Mel Brooks' El joven Frankenstein (1974) which has been said to have inspired this parody.
For his role as Renfield, Arte Johnson is doing an impersonation of Dwight Frye's performance, especially the laugh, from the classic Universal version of Drácula (1931).
The line "Children of the night, shut up!" is a spoof of Bela Lugosi's classic line from Drácula (1931): "The children of the night, what music they make."