The film was shot and edited in Manila, the Philippine Islands. The director's cut was sent back to Los Angeles where Roger Corman had the film re-cut, plus he had additional footage shot and edited into the film.

Was filmed as a comedy-horror film. Roger Corman removed the majority of jokes and humor from the film in post-production, turning the former comedy into a straight horror movie.

New World Pictures double-billed this feature with the superior David Cronenberg film The Brood (1979).

One of a cycle of 1980s and mid-late 1970s movies that got made after the box-office success of Jaws (1975). The films include that movie's three sequels, Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983), and Jaws: The Revenge (1987), as well as Orca (1977), Piranha (1978), Tentacles (1977), Killer Fish (1979), Barracuda (1978), Tintorera (1977), Blood Beach (1980), Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981), L'ultimo squalo (1981), Up from the Depths (1979), Monster (Humanoids from the Deep) (1980), L'isola degli uomini pesce (1979), Devouring Waves (1984) and Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976).