The producers had to edit the movie in order to avoid an X rating from the MPAA, despite the fact that none of the movies featured had received a rating higher than R when they were initially released.
The movie has been released fully on the 30th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of Halloween II (1981) as a special feature. The movie is presented in widescreen and in full 1080p. On October 15, 2012, the movie has been released on DVD as part of the Universal Vault Series. On October 13, 2020, the movie has been released on Blu-ray for the first time from Scream Factory.
The movie's DVD and Blu-ray release is presented in the same 1:85.1 aspect ratio of its original theatrical release, which also cropped any segments from other movies that were originally produced using the anamorphic process. The number of terror, suspense, horror and thriller movie clips that are featured and shown from in this documentary totaled to seventy-eight clips.
14 movies featured in this documentary were selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Psycho (1960), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), The Birds (1963), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975), Carrie (1976), Halloween (1978), Alien (1979) and The Shining (1980).
The television network version has additional movie clips added for network viewing as well as replacing violent clips from other movies. The additional movie clips are from the movies: The Legacy (1978), Firestarter (1984), Frenzy (1972), The Car (1977), The Ghost Breakers (1940), The Funhouse (1981), This Island Earth (1955), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), Tarantula (1955), The Deadly Mantis (1957) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966).
Alfred Hitchcock: As himself in an archival footage cameo homage from The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973).