The critical mauling and public outcry about the film resulted in it being pulled from British cinemas after just five days.
Many critics of the time were offended by Michael Powell's use of himself and his real-life son as Mark Lewis' father and the young Mark Lewis, respectively. They thought Powell overly identified with the movie and that the use of his son bordered on abuse. In interviews as an adult, Powell's son has stated he finds these criticisms laughable.
One of Martin Scorsese's favorite films. Coincidentally, Scorsese's lifelong editor Thelma Schoonmaker was married from 1984 to 1990 to Michael Powell, the director of this film.
The film is regarded as one of the first slasher films in horror movie history, although it was not the first horror movie to use the convention of seeing things from the killer's point of view as claimed in Frissons 4 (2011). That technique had already been done in The Lodger (1944) and Hangover Square (1945), two films that both starred Laird Cregar and were directed by John Brahm.
The phrase "Peeping Tom" comes from the boy who looked at Lady Godiva while she rode naked on a horse through the village, even though all were warned not to look at her.