The film was a major success, considering its small budget, but the actors had to sue to get paid. After more than three years, the case was settled for $90,000. After attorney's fees, each actor got $1,000.
Director/producer Charles B. Pierce funded the film by borrowing $160,000 from an Arkansas trucking company, and filmed it on an older-model movie camera. The film went on to earn $25 million which. When adjusted for inflation in 2020, that equates to more than $150 million.
The film is based upon actual reported encounters with a Bigfoot creature in the Fouke-Boogy Creek area of Arkansas throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Most of the actors in the film were the actual people from the encounters.
Nearly all of the cast never appeared in another film.
The film was a tremendous success at drive-ins. It grossed $20 million, making it the 10th highest grossing movie of 1972.