Could have easily escaped the UK's "video nasty" list if the original pre-VRA video cover wasn't so graphic. it featured a very bloody close-up of a drill boring into a man's head with lots of blood. The video cover was featured in video catalogs and received many complaints.
Banned in the UK until 1999.
Abel Ferrara claims that half of this movie was shot in 1978 and the other half was shot in 1979. This explains why the actors' hairstyles and looks in general change quite frequently during the movie.
In 2017 just before the re-mastered film was to be re-released on DVD/Blu-Ray, an alternative pre-release version was discovered. Arrow Films (UK) was given permission to release this 100-minute version alongside the 96-minute theatre version. The new footage includes extended versions of scenes already in the theatrical version plus a couple of entirely new ones pre-cut before release.
Title is mentioned in the song "Nasty" by The Damned--a song about horror movies that were banned in the UK after the Video Recording Act of 1984.