Originally a pilot for a TV series to be called "The Black Cloak". The series was not picked up and this pilot was released as a theatrical feature.
This was produced by Alfred Hitchcock's television production company, Shamley Productions, located at Universal, as a pilot for a new series to replace "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" which was ending that year. The series wasn't picked up by any of the networks. The pilot was expanded to almost an hour and released to theaters.
This almost forgotten horror film was only the second, and last, from Alfred Hitchcock's Shamley Productions to be released to theaters. The first was the much more famous "Psycho" (1960).
Alfred Hitchcock intended this proposed series for the "year of the monsters," which had resulted in other popular television series such as "The Outer Limits" (1963), "The Addams Family" (1964) and "The Munsters" (1964).