The film won a Saturn Award from The American Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror films for Best Horror Film and Best Actor (Daniels.) Young actress Marlene Katz was nominated for a best actress award from the Young Artist Awards. The film was a phenominal success in America alone, grossing $55,000,000 in theaters and going on to gross an additional $30,000,000 in video rentals.
The film's biggest critical success was very roundabout. The song "Blue Eyes are Sensitive to the Light" was used in the soundtrack and performed by Sara Hickman. The song was actually written by 80s songstress Martika and inspired by a set of very Arian looking male supermodel twins with pale blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Martika's own recording of the song went on to win a Grammy.