 On its release some critics accused the film of being nothing more than an Italian version of "Halloween".There are some similarities between the two films – references to a 'Bogeyman' and a babysitter and her charges in peril from a silent and seemingly indestructible killer.To add to its fame, the film inspired the name for German black metal act Absurd, whose members later switched their interest from gore films to far-right extremism and committed murder in 1993.