Japan's premier film magazine, Kinema Junpo, include this film in their prestigious top 10 best films of the year list, the first time a kaiju film earned such a distinction. When the readers of Kinema Junpo selected the top 200 greatest Japanese films ever made, they ranked this film in the top best of all time.
In making the film, director Kaneko's main inspiration were the Godzilla films of Ishirô Honda. Kaneko mentioned that as a child, he felt that Honda's films were much more sophisticated than other monster movies. According to Kaneko, he considered Honda's films as a textbook and would constantly ask himself how would Honda do such a scene.
The gayos creature was performed by a female actress so that it would convey more 'feminine' like behavior. Apparently this was the first time a kaiju was ever performed by a woman in a feature film.
Shûsuke Kaneko originally wanted to make a Godzilla film and approached Toho to direct Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). Toho declined and he was subsequently approached by Daiei to bring back Gamera. Toho producer Shogo Tomiyama would later comment on how they became jealous of the critical success Kaneko had, allowing him to direct Godzilla, Mothra et King Ghidorah (2001). Kaneko's Godzilla film would go on to be the most successful entry in the Millennium series.
The film's Japanese poster is a nearly identical recreation of the Japanese poster of the first film in which Gamera fought Gyaos, Gamera contre Gyaos (1967).