When the film premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the first screening erupted into a riot. Director Alejandro Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine. When the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but fights broke out in the audiences and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the scandal provided a lot of fodder for the Mexican newspapers.

The character of the bearded, elderly pope is played by actress and dancer Tamara Garina. Her voice is dubbed by a man, just like practically all the actors on screen are dubbed by different voice actors.

An excerpt of dialogue plays out the otherwise instrumental track 'The Hawthorne Passage' by American blackened folk metal band Agalloch on their 2002 album The Mantle

Lis (singing): Yo moriré y nadie se acordará de mí. De mí... Fando: Sí, Lis, yo me acordaré de ti e iré a verte al cementerio con una flor y un perro, y en tu funeral cantaré, en voz baja, "¡Qué bonito es un entierro!"