Film historian and critic Roberto Curti stated that the according to the Public Cinematographic Register, filming was published as beginning on March 24, but it was more likely that filming had not begun until April 1980. Shooting schedule allowed for shooting on location in both New York City and six weeks shot in Savannah, Georgia, and two weeks in Rome at De Paolis Studios for the special effects scenes. Among the special effects scenes included a scene where the cast is attacked by maggots via two wind machines and a 10 kg of maggots. To surprise Fulci, one crew member took some of the maggots and placed them in his pipe tobacco which Fulci only learned after a few puffs of what he was smoking, angering him immensely. Fulci would later theorize that this incident led to his future illness as he went for heart surgery in 1985, suffered a ventricular aneurysm, contracted viral hepatitis and developed Cirrhosis of the liver. Many of the film's gory and graphic scenes were not included in the original scripts or story, such as the scene where a character vomits their own intestines is absent. This scene was performed by having the Daniela Doria spit up baby veal intestines, and then having her head replaced with replica for further vomiting.