This was Peter Cushing's first of 22 Hammer films.

Like the "Quatermass" films produced by Hammer, The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967), this was based on one of Nigel Kneale's television dramas, BBC Sunday-Night Theatre: The Creature (1955).

Although Peter Cushing reprised his role as John Rollason from BBC Sunday-Night Theatre: The Creature (1955), Forrest Tucker replaced Stanley Baker as Tom Friend in the film version. The only other actors to reprise their roles from the original television version are Arnold Marlé (The Lhama) and Wolfe Morris (Kusang).

The American distributors paired this film as a double feature with The Trollenberg Terror (1958), which also starred Forrest Tucker.

The film was originally to be called "The Snow Creature" before it was realized that director W. Lee Wilder had beaten them to it with The Snow Creature (1954).

This is the only Hammer film to be produced by Aubrey Baring, and the last made in association with Robert L. Lippert.

In 2013, it was announced that Matthew Read and Jon Croker were scripting a modern take on the story for Hammer Films, with Ben Holden producing.

Wolfe Morris (Kusang) later played Padmasambhava in Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen: Episode Two (1967), Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen: Episode Three (1967), Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen: Episode Four (1967), Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen: Episode Five (1967) and Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen: Episode Six (1967).