Christopher Lee agreed to do the film for scale because he wanted to work with Donald Pleasence. Despite this, the two never share the screen together due to their large height difference (Lee was 6ft5 and Pleasence is 5ft6). Director Gary Sherman kept them in separate shots until Lee sits down at the end of the scene so that he wouldn't have issues fitting them both into the same frame.
This movie unites Donald Pleasence and Sir Christopher Lee, actors who were involved with the role of Dr. Sam Loomis (at some point) in Halloween. Lee turned down the role and regretted the decision, while Pleasance played the role and became well-known for it.
Death Line premiered in London in December 1972, and was later released in the United States under the title Raw Meat on October 3, 1973. In the United States, it was released in an edited cut to avoid an X rating. American International Pictures, the film's distributor, retitled the film for its American release, along with a marketing campaign that made it appear as though it were a zombie film. In Los Angeles, it was paired as a double bill alongside the comedy-horror film Cannibal Girls (1973).
The scenes in the pub were completely improvised. Donald Pleasence and Norman Rossington were really getting drunk during the scene.
Hugh Armstrong's role was originally to be played by Marlon Brando but Brando had to back out when his son Christian became ill with pneumonia.