The film has a similar title to the then recent Clint Eastwood movie Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) which had been first released about three years earlier.
Final of four feature films produced for the 20th Century Fox studio by producer Roger Corman. The earlier ones were 'Capone', 'Fighting Mad' and 'Moving Violation'.
The movie was originally set in the American state of Georgia but was relocated to the everglades in the American state Florida in order to take advantage of the region's visual scenic value.