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Kisapmata (1981)

psychological horror film directed by Mike de Leon

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#kisapmata 1981 #Vic Silayan #Charo Santos #Jay Ilagan #Charito Solis

The Chilling Story Behind ‘Kisapmata’ by Mike De Leon

Vic Silayan and Charo Santos portray the role of father and daughter in 'Kisapmata'

Classic Filipino cinema has become a recently found interest of mine, and ‘Kisapmata’ directed by Mike De Leon, sits at the top of my list of favorites. Never before have I immediately noticed the close attention to detail made behind the scenes for a movie. I went into this film not having heard of it before and with barely any knowledge of what to expect, yet I could already say, just a quarter into the film, that its intent as a psychological horror had already been succeeded from the very beginning.

A family dinner between the Carandangs and Manalansans

PHILIPPINE HORROR

Aside from romantic comedies, Filipinos have mastered a way of making a contribution to national cinema, which is through the Horror genre. Kisapmata was able to portray the thing that is scarier than ghosts, zombies, and vampires. And that is…people.

Not a single scene overstayed its welcome throughout the course of the film, and the intent behind such details quickly captured my attention and taste. Psychological movies are made to make you think and itch inside your brain for answers, and that is exactly what ‘Kisapmata’ or internationally known as ‘In Just The Wink of an Eye’ did. In most cases, we watch a thriller at the edge of our seats, painfully waiting for the end when all questions are finally answered. And that is one of the things that Mike De Leon did not follow–and maybe for the better and what made the 1981 film so good.

The script is admirable not completely for its dialogue, but for its non-verbal performances. ‘Kisapmata’ never allowed the audience to see what was exactly happening between Milagros Carandang and her father every night and what sins she was continuously repenting for every morning in front of Mother Mary. Instead, we were given suspenseful noir shots full of hints, where we as an audience were left with nothing to do but form and imagine an answer to our own questions.

Vic Silayan as Sgt. Diosdado in 'Kisapmata'

VIC SILAYAN

Solis and Silayan’s dynamic, playing as father and daughter in the film, is another aspect that made the experience so chilling. It would be wrong to say that Sgt. Diosdado or “Tang” would have been as successful of an antagonist as it became without the accompaniment of Vic Silayan’s performance. The heart-racing tension between Tang and the women around him made me grit my teeth out of the thoughts that wavered my mind of what could have been happening behind closed doors.

Milagros Carandang writing her dislike towards her father in a diary

HORRORS OF REALITY

What made me consider this movie as not just another Horror story is the true events that were used as inspiration. ‘Kisapmata’ was inspired by an incident that occurred on a January afternoon in 1961 at 1074 Zapote St., when former detective Pablo Cabading murdered his daughter and son-in-law.

On the year of its release in 1981, the film won a total of (8) eight Metro Manila Film Festival awards, and despite not causing a boom at the box office, was later critically acclaimed and presented at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Although the film garnered more than enough attention and praise during its time over four decades ago, I think the present Filipino and international society would enjoy a look into the suspense-filled Horror classic.

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by Isobelle Cruz, 28/05/2022