"sort of like Beardsley by way of having a dream about Beardsley. If you dreamt about Bearsley in a dream, and he was riding a bicycle and selling you soft drinks—that's the Aubrey Beardsley that's in the movie." Casting Dave Marsh, a journalist and editor of Creem magazine, appears in the film as the Artist. Barry's grandmother appears briefly in the film in a flashback sequence as one of the bed's victims throughout the decades since its genesis. In the primary role of Diane, Barry cast Demene Hall, a film and stage actress who later went on to have a long-running career in theater productions in Seattle. Filming The film was shot in and around Detroit, Michigan in 1972 on a budget of $30,000. To avoid paying union fees, many of the cast and crew members were hired from Canada. Among them were Canadian cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Robert Fresco, who later worked as a camera operator on Prom Night (1980). Some filming took place at the historic Gar Wood Mansion on Grayhaven Island, which was leased for the production from a rock music group who was staying in the home. The sequences filmed in the stone chamber room where the bed is contained were shot in a makeshift studio. Principal photography lasted only two weeks, and Barry spent the subsequent four years editing the film. A mural by the English occultist Austin Osman Spare appears in the film. Release Availability Following the film's completion in 1977, Barry sought a theatrical release for Death Bed but failed to find a willing distributor. Later on, Barry received an offer from an Los Angeles-based distributor to release the film on VHS in the United Kingdom, after they had seen Barry's answer print of the film. The distributor offered to pay Barry $1,000 for a VHS release if he could supply them with a print of the film, complete with credits. Barry, unable to afford the $3,000 that credits would have cost, declined, and the print was sent back to him. Despite this, Portland Films, an obscure British label, released a bootleg VHS of the film in the United Kingdom circa 1983 without Barry's knowledge, with the film eventually receiving further VHS releases in Australia, New Zealand and Spain. The film garnered an underground cult following in Europe due to this release. The Spanish release is dubbed into Spanish and is considered quite