- He Really Can Act: While Roberts Blossom's talent was never in doubt, it's here in his only leading role that he really gets to shine as an actor with his legitimately unsettling portrayal of Ezra.
- Moral Event Horizon: Ezra was already a rather unnerving presence with his corpse desecration and obsession with his deceased mother, though one could argue that he at least wasn't harming any living beings. His Attempted Rape and subsequent killing of Mary, however, marks the point of no return for him.
- Nightmare Fuel: While there is the occasional bit of Black Comedy to lighten the mood, the film as a whole still possesses a very creepy and disturbing atmosphere, particularly in the scene where Ezra kidnaps Mary and tries to force her to "marry" him. To say nothing of Roberts Blossom's genuinely unnerving performance as Ezra.
- Retroactive Recognition:
- The film features some early work by Tom Savini, who subsequently went on become one of the most revered make-up artists in film history.
- Co-director Jeff Gillen later played the Jerkass Mall Santa in A Christmas Story.
- Alan Ormsby, meanwhile, would eventually go on on to write the scripts for such films as Cat People, Porky's II, and Popcorn.
- Simms' actor Leslie Carlson would later gain fame in horror circles for his role as Barry Convex in Videodrome.
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