Like the novel, the film was planned in the genre of detective. Strugatsky stated in the initiation to the novel that it should be considered as a wastey genre of detective.

The film was shot in Estonian and then dubbed by Lenfilm film studio in Russian. For the first time, the picture was presented to the public on August 27, 1979 in the territory of the Estonian SSR.

The film was created by the film studio "Tallinfilm" with the participation of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian actors. Directed by Grigory Kromanov, cameraman, by Yuri Sillart. The film uses the electronic music of the Estonian composer Sven Grunberg. The costume designer was the fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev. The original language of the film is Estonian. According to critics, the cameraman Yuri Slilart and the production artist Tynu Virva made a truly magnificent camera work, which created a special color and a powerful mysterious atmosphere that was replacing all the special effects. The film is almost entirely shot on large and medium-sized plans, using landscape shootings made near the ski resort - Chimbulak - in the town of "Tyuyak-Su" in the mountains of Zailiysky Alatau over Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan). The film was also praised for the aesthetic part - the prizes of different film festivals were awarded design and music. Critics talked about an interesting combination of noir style and science fiction.

The film "The deceased climber" in 1980 received the prestigious prize "Silver asteroid" (2nd place) at the annual International Film Festival of Fantastic Cinema in Trieste. (Italy).