In her autobiography 'Truth and Dare: A Memoir', Rona De Ricci recalled an incident happened to her during the filming of this movie:"In one of the scenes, my character, Maria, who was imprisoned by Torquemada, is being examined nude, true to the Inquisition's handling of women who were accused of being witches and coerced into pleading guilty. At the rehearsal, and clothed at my insistence, the director wanted us to 'improvise' that scene a bit. Circled by the clergy and the guards, I was pulled and pushed and humiliated with barbs authentic to the period and some that were not. When I sensed this was getting out of the artistic realm and was more of a cruel joke, I protested.The director reassured me that it was for the sake of the shot. We tried again, but now the language turned more profane and contemporary, along with more shoving. The director watched with sick satisfaction. Crying in anger, I demanded it stop, citing that the script didn't call for it, nor had I signed for more than what was in this scene originally, and I refused to continue. "
During filming, Lance Henriksen and director Stuart Gordon clashed with each other frequently. He questioned Gordon's role as director and was opposed to the humor in the film. Eventually, Gordon surrendered and told Henriksen he could do whatever he pleased with the character of Torquemada and made peace with Henriksen by the time filming was finished.
The Pope of the Catholic Church during the majority of the Spanish Inquisition was Pope Innocent VIII, who had originally appointed Torquemada as the Grand Inquisitor of Spain in 1487. Unlike the film, which portrays the Pope as disapproving of Torquemada's actions, Innocent VIII fully supported the endeavor.
Final film of Rona De Ricci.