According to articles in the 15 Aug 1960 and 30 Nov 1960 NYT, Robert Thom first wrote Angel, Angel, Down We Go as a play for the New York City stage, with his wife, Janice Rule, intended for the leading role of a “lost girl of the [1960s]” living with her friends in Greenwich Village while attending New York University. Leland Hayward was attached to produce, but later canceled the project after struggling to find a venue and a director. The 2 Aug 1961 NYT indicated that the property was later acquired by the investments group, Theatrical Interests Plan (T.I.P.), but development once again failed to move ahead.
       Seven years later, the 25 Jul 1968 DV announced that producer Sam Katzman’s Four Leaf Productions had signed Thom to adapt his work into a motion picture screenplay that would also serve as his directorial debut. Budgeted at $2 million with a fifty-day shooting schedule, Angel, Angel, Down We Go was labeled Katzman’s “most expensive property and biggest project ever,” while his son, Jerome F. Katzman, assumed responsibilities as a full producer. A 24 Dec 1968 DV brief reported the involvement of prominent star names, including rock singer and actor Christopher Jones, Roddy McDowall, and Jennifer Jones, making her first feature film appearance since attempting to commit suicide in 1967. The 30 Jan 1969 edition also noted that the character of “Joe” was Lou Rawls’s first acting role in a theatrical motion picture.
       Additional casting items in the 25 Feb 1969 and 4 Mar 1969 DV also included Lester Fletcher and Deanne Mencher in the ensemble. The 28 Feb 1969 issue revealed that although Katzman’s wife, Hortense, usually had small roles in most of her husband’s films, Katzman did not want her to appear in Angel, Angel, Down We Go due to its sexual content.
       Principal photography began 17 Feb 1969, as confirmed by a DV production chart published five days later. A 17 Apr 1969 DV article revealed that Four Leaf Productions—American International Pictures (AIP) rented studio space from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) facilities in Culver City, CA, following a similar arrangement on Riot on Sunset Strip (1967, see entry). Filming was reportedly “in wrap-up” after two months. According to a 23 Jul 1969 Var news item, the picture then went through “very heavy cutting” to obtain an “R” rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
       Despite an earlier story in the 17 Jan 1969 DV claiming that Angel, Angel, Down We Go was intended as Four Leaf and AIP’s first roadshow release, these plans were later canceled in favor of regular engagements. Opening dates were subsequently pushed back until 26 Nov 1969, when the film made its debut at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, to negative reviews. Exactly one year later, AIP reissued the picture under the new title The Cult of the Damned on a double bill with The Vampire Lovers (see entry). The same program began its New York City run on 3 Feb 1971 at the Penthouse and other theaters.