According to Ernest Borgnine's autobiography, the studio offered him a choice of either a higher salary or a percentage of the box office. Borgnine chose the higher salary.
The surprise box office success of this film would inspire a huge amount of animal-themed horror films in the early 1970s.
Bruce Davison had a rat placed on his shoulder as part of his audition for the part of Willard Stiles.
Al Martin (Ernest Borgnine) asks his secretary Alice (Joan Shawlee) to procure $8,000 in cashier's checks and cash for Walter Spencer (Alan Baxter), who is going on a European vacation. This amazes Alice and the rest of Martin's staff, because $8,000 in 1971 (the year of the film's release) is equivalent to $61,867.14 in 2023.
According to an issue of "TV Guide" released in 1971, the year of the film's release, Ernest Borgnine had to overcome a fear of rats prior to filming.
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