Wes Craven compared his work with actor Ernest Borgnine to John Carpenter's work with Donald Pleasance in the original La Nuit des masques (1978). 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 in Les Griffes de la nuit (1984) where the reptile was replaced with the finger-knives hand of Fred Krueger.
When John (Jeff East) meets Vicky (Susan Buckner) in town, the marquee at the theatre shows the title "Summer of Fear" (aka L'Été de la peur (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.