Robin Sherwood said in an interview years later that she was hesitant about taking the role when they offered it because of the nudity involved. But producers told her that though she would be nude during filming, they wouldn't show her body onscreen. Being young and naive, she trusted them. Day of shooting, she was terrified when she first stripped off her bikini in front of actor James Lemp and the male crew. It was the first time she'd been nude in front of that many men. She spent all day stark naked in a pool being grabbed by Lemp during her assault scene. She said Lemp was great to work with and tried his best to watch his hands, but during the very physical scene, he couldn't help getting a handful of her breasts at points as she struggled. The pool was bad enough, but at least her body was obscured by water except for the cameraman who shot underwater. But then Lemp had to carry her "unconscious" out of the pool and toward the house. She was totally exposed at that point and her bare butt was facing the director and production crew the entire time so she knew they had a clear view. She said the director had them film that part several times for some reason. Weeks later, when she saw the final film, she was furious because her breasts and butt were visible on screen throughout. She confronted the director who said he decided to show the nudity because it made the scene stronger. Sherwood panicked thinking it would damage her new acting career. She was also a model and just shot a campaign for Levi's. She was afraid they'd fire her. Thankfully, the film wasn't released because it was so bad they couldn't get any distribution. But, producers finally released it in 1982 when Death Wish 2, co-starring Sherwood, was a big hit. Ironically, Sherwood had an extensive nude assault scene in it too. But at that point she didn't care because she had decided to give up acting.
Shot in twelve days on a meagre $40,000 budget, The Love Butcher would be Mikel Angel's sole directorial effort, mainly because his first cut was deemed by the entire crew to make no sense and was unwatchable. Don Jones was then brought in to finish the film as director and do rewrites, with Austin McKinney as his director of photography.
Before taking this role, Robin Sherwood had been a stage actress since she was 14. She decided to try auditioning for films and shows instead because she was starting to be horrified by the auditions where you go into huge Broadway type theatres and have to sing. When she was offered The Love Butcher, she jumped at it, even though it required her to be fully nude.
Robin Sherwood's debut and first nude scene. She was in college at the time and worked as an actress as part of a work/study program.
James Lemp was credited as Erik Stern in this film.