The characters of Louise (the alcoholic librarian) and her wheelchair-bound father later appear in The Attic (1980), which was also written by Tony Crechales and George Edwards. In this film, the roles were played by Luana Anders and Peter Brocco, in the other, by Carrie Snodgress and Ray Milland.
According to director Curtis Harrington, 'The Killing Kind' barely saw a release. The problematic distributors cut a deal where the film would only be screened in a few cities in the United States. Other distributors showed an interest in the film but, since no records were kept of where the movie had already been screened, it never secured further theatrical distribution.
The rats used in the film were brought in by animal trainer Moe Di Sesso and the rodents had previously appeared in Willard (1971) and Ben (1972).
Cast and crew members took advantage of the Beverly Boulevard laundromat location and actually laundered their clothes while scenes were being filmed.
One scene was cut from the film by the producer at the urging of a distributor, much to the disgust of director Curtis Harrington. This scene features Terry wandering around the zoo looking at the caged apes. He hears a familiar laughter and turns to find Tina and her boyfriend making out in another nearby cage. This sequence preceded the scene in which Terry arrives home and encounters Mrs. Orland descending the staircase. Harrington described the footage as "wonderful" and the sequence as "very important psychologically" but he concluded the film was otherwise cut together and released as he intended.