Test audiences praised Nicolas Cage's performance and mentioned that he was so off putting that it could potentially scare viewers off.
Test audiences described the film as having imagery very similar to films such as The Silence of the Lambs, Cure, Zodiac, and Se7en.
The first official trailer was titled "You've Got the Teeth of the Hydra Upon You", a reference to T-Rex's 1971 song "Bang a Gong".
An official two minute trailer preceded Civil War and Monkey Man in theaters but wasn't shown anywhere online. An abridged 1 minute version of the trailer was released shortly after by Neon.
Nicolas Cage and Oz Perkins made the movie as a tribute to their mothers.