The film received minor cuts for its initial UK cinema release. However in 1978 the introduction of the Protection of Children Act caused the BBFC to withdraw the film where it received extensive cuts to all scenes where Elise strips in front of Marcus, shots of Marcus caressing Elise's breasts, and the complete removal of the bed scene between Elise and Marcus.
Britt Ekland appeared nude herself in the strip scene without the use of a body double.
In England, the film was given the 18 certificate and the R18 rating in Australia for its disturbing content including graphic nudity and an implied brief underage sex scene.
Allegedly, producer Harry Alan Towers bought in Andrea Bianchi to adapt the original screenplay by Trevor Preston in order to add more overtly exploitative scenes to the film, in order to increase its notoriety. Bianchi was also the co-director (under the alias 'Andrew White'), and several of his later films include more explicit depictions of incest, such as My Father's Wife (1976), Malabimba (1979), and Burial Ground (1981). Bianchi is not credited on the English versions of this film.
The three Chelsea FC players whose pictures are on Marcus' bedroom wall are club legends, Peter Bonetti (goalkeeper) and strikers Ian Hutchinson and Peter Osgood.