The motion picture was shot over a period of two-and-a-half years, primarily in areas around the directors' home city of Pittsburgh, PA for the unbelievably small budget of $4000. Locations included the notorious Dixmont State Lunatic Asylum (since demolished), an abandoned steel mill, and a dilapidated (and structurally unsound) condemned house.
Budgets were so tight that writer/co-director Jim Towns allegedly stood in for almost every character in the film at some point.
Kelly I. Lynn, the lead actress that played "Esmeralda", allegedly disappeared before the film's final completion, and her current whereabouts or state of health are said to be unknown. However, this could merely be a promotional gimmick to add mystery to the film and its production.
Shot on Digital Video between 2003 and 2005 (before 24p OR HD), the video footage was digitally altered in post-production to convey the look and feel of silent-era cinema. These changes included altering the frame rate to 16fps, altering the image to make it black and white, and adding artificial grain and film damage to the final footage.
In the original script Esmeralda and Belinda were twin sisters that both died. The creator took both of them and made one character from the best parts of the two sisters.