''Kisapmata'' (
Filipino for "in the blink of an eye") is a 1981 Philippine
psychological horror
Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...
film directed by
Mike de Leon from a screenplay he co-wrote with
Clodualdo del Mundo Jr. and Raquel Villavicencio. It stars
Vic Silayan,
Charo Santos,
Jay Ilagan, and
Charito Solis
Rosario Violeta Hernández Solís (October 6, 1935 – January 9, 1998), professionally known as Charito Solís, was a Filipino film actress.
She was considered among the major dramatic film actresses in the Philippines, with a career spannin ...
. The plot was inspired by the crime reportage "The House on Zapote Street" written by
Nick Joaquin
Nicomedes "Nick" Marquez Joaquin (; May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer and journalist best known for his short story, short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaq ...
. The piece chronicles the events leading to the highly publicized
familicide
A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which an individual kills multiple close family members in quick succession, most often children, spouses, siblings, or parents. In half the cases, the killer lastly kills themselves in a ...
committed by Pablo Cabading, a retired policeman.
Considered as a pioneer of psychological horror film genre in the Philippines, its subject matter and themes, especially drawn inspirations and parallels from
true crime
True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...
stories, marked the first major treatment of
incest
Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...
in Philippine cinema, while its message has been viewed as a commentary against the
patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
and
the regime of then-President
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
.
The film premiered at the
7th Metro Manila Film Festival. Despite receiving controversy upon release, the film received critical acclaim, establishing de Leon as one of the great directors of the new generation of Filipino filmmakers. The film won ten awards from the festival, including
Best Film, and was subsequently screened at the
35th Cannes Film Festival during the Directors' Fortnight, alongside de Leon's ''
Batch '81
''Alpha Kappa Omega Batch '81'' (also known as ''Batch '81'' or ''ΑΚΩ 81'') is a 1982 Filipino psychological drama film directed by Mike de Leon from a screenplay he co-written with Clodualdo del Mundo Jr. and Raquel Villavicencio. The fi ...
''.
Often regarded one of the greatest Filipino films ever made in retrospective years, the
Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Filipino Film Critics) included ''Kisapmata'' in their list of Ten Best Films of the Decade and was voted the 3rd best Filipino film of all time (behind ''
Manila in the Claws of Light
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
'' and ''
Himala'', respectively) in a 2013 poll organized by Pinoy Rebyu. In 2020, the film was digitally restored with a subsequent theatrical screening at the
34th Il Cinema Ritrovato in
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
Plot
Mila reluctantly tells her domineering father Tatang Dadong Carandang, a retired policeman, that she is pregnant. Mila asks permission from her father to marry her co-worker Noel Manalansan. Dadong begrudgingly gives his permission when his unreasonable demands for a hefty dowry are met.
After the wedding, Dadong insists that the newlyweds stay in his house. Despite protestations, the young couple acquiesce. During their time living in the Carandang house, Mila tells Noel that she must stay with her sick mother Dely, much to Noel's annoyance as he wants to move out with Mila as soon as possible. One evening, Noel is forced to find other accommodations after he is locked out of the house.
Although still fearful of her father, Mila decides to escape. She and Noel stay with Noel's father. The young couple, however, return to the Carandang house to gather their belongings. Dadong pleads with Mila to stay, saying he has an interest in the baby she is carrying (suggesting that he has been carrying an incestuous relationship with his daughter). As Mila and Noel stand firm on leaving, Dadong pulls out his gun, and shoots Dely, Noel, Mila, and finally himself.
Cast
Although the original film credits had Solis's and Santos's characters as Adelina and Milagros Carandang, de Leon clarified upon the release of the restored version that their characters' names were Dely and Mila respectively. Silayan's character is simply Tatong Dadong. Additionally, the last name Carandang is never mentioned in the film.
Production
Inspiration
The film was inspired by ''The House on Zapote Street: The Curious Drama Behind the Massacre Last Week in Makati'', written by Nick Joaquin under the pen name Quijano de Manila. The report was first published in the ''Philippine Free Press'' on January 28, 1961, and was later included in Joaquin's collection ''Reportage on Crime: Thirteen Horror Happenings that Hit the Headlines'', published in 1977. Joaquin's piece chronicles the familicide committed by retired police detective Pablo Cabading. Divided into six "episodes," it is written in the
New Journalism
New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form no ...
style, based on the journalist's own primary research and investigation, including witness interviews.
On January 18, 1961, Cabading shot his daughter, Lydia Cabading-Quitangon, and his son-in-law, Leonardo, both of whom were medical doctors. After killing the newly-weds, Cabading shot himself. His wife, Asuncion, survived and would later attempt to stop the release of the film.
Joaquin's reportage is silent about any rape that may have been committed by the father but academic Joyce Arriola states that "the text suggests that possibility." De Leon was also influenced by the 1978 novel ''Blood Secrets'' by Craig Jones, which further developed the theme of incest.
The original version of the film omits Joaquin's name. According to de Leon, this was because the film's producers were seeking to avoid explicit reference to the real case. In the restored copy, the journalist is credited.
Development
After the release of ''
Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising'', de Leon was interested in adapting a story based on real events, writing in his memoir, "Countless true stories are waiting to be filmed. So why would I settle for fiction?" According to the director, in the 1970s, he was approached by the brother of one of the convicted perpetrators of the
rape of Maggie de la Riva to make a movie about the crime. Although there had been several meetings, the project did not push through. The case was later dramatized in a
1994 film.
De Leon was also interested in adapting Joaquin's article as early as 1978 but experienced difficulty in finding a producer who was willing to back a film with such dark themes.
He was later approached by producer Jackie Atienza who was interested in de Leon replicating the mood of de Leon's directorial debut ''
Itim''. They discussed adapting the novel ''Blood Secrets'' but eventually settled on Joaquin's article.
Writing
The screenplay was written by de Leon, Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., and Raquel Villavicencio. The trio had previously worked together co-writing the 1980 musical ''
Kakabakaba Ka Ba?'' and the then-on-production-hiatus ''Batch '81''. Their co-writing process started with group discussions, followed by del Mundo and Villavicencio writing separate scenes that de Leon would make a composite from. With that as their first draft, they would continue building on it together. Back in 1978, Villavicencio answered a newspaper ad and participated in de Leon and del Mundo's first and only
LVN Filmmaking Workshop.
During the writing process and even after most of the film had finished shooting, de Leon was not satisfied with the endings proposed. He re-read the broadsheet coverage of the crime as well as Joaquin's reportage. Instead of any dramatic confrontations, it came to de Leon that the ending happens "in the blink of an eye," and so the abruptness was replicated in the film.
In order to avoid lawsuits, the names of the people in Joaquin's report were changed from the Cabading family to the Carandang family, as well as the profession of the young couple from doctors to accountants. The timeline of the film was also changed from 1961 to 1981, the production year. Beyond the Joaquin article, De Leon did original research on the crime, uncovering details that were never released to the public, including the fact that the father hid under the young couple's bed while they were sleeping, that the father had two wives, and that after he had shot the others, the father laid down on his daughter's bed before shooting himself, although these were not incorporated into the film.
Vic Silayan, who plays Dadong Carandang, had asked de Leon if the character could be changed to a step-father as he was uncomfortable with the incest issue, but they both acknowledged it would ultimately change the film.
Pre-production and filming

The film was shot while production on de Leon's ''Batch '81'' was on hiatus due to budget problems. In May 1981, four months into principal photography for ''Batch '81'', its producer, Marichu Maceda, announced that filming would have to pause. Maceda's other production, ''Pakawalan Mo Ako'' starring
Vilma Santos
Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto (born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress and politician. In a career spanning over seven decades, she is recognized for her versatility in acting across various genres of film and television in the Philippine ...
, was behind schedule and financing two films simultaneously was too expensive. Production on ''Batch '81'' continued three months later; by that time de Leon and his creative team had filmed ''Kisapmata''.
Production designer Cesar Hernando had come across the house while looking for a location to film the riot scene of ''Batch '81''. Hernando recalled coming across the house for rent that was "eerily similar in structure to the original house on Zapote Street." It was rented for two months. The set was ready in three weeks, in which time Hernando and art director Lea Locsin remodeled it and added borrowed furniture to work around their tight budget. De Leon called ''Kisapmata'' "Cesar's best work among my films."
Shooting lasted 18 days.
Actress Charo Santos both acted in and worked as a line producer on set. Santos made her acting debut in de Leon's 1976 film ''Itim'' and also starred in his 1980 film ''Kakabakaba Ka Ba?''. She would go on to produce such films as
Peque Gallaga
Maurice Gallaga (August 25, 1943 – May 7, 2020), better known as Peque Gallaga, was a multi-awarded Filipino film-maker. His most significant achievement in film was , which he directed after winning a scriptwriting contest sponsored by the ...
's ''
Oro, Plata, Mata
() is a 1982 Philippine historical war drama film co-written and directed by Peque Gallaga. The screenplay written and adapted by José Javier Reyes was based on the story developed by Gallaga, along with Mario Taguiwalo and Conchita Castillo. ...
'' and
Ishmael Bernal
Ishmael Bernal (September 30, 1938 – June 2, 1996) was a Philippines, Filipino filmmaker, stage and television director, actor and screenwriter. Noted for his melodramas, particularly with feminist and moral issues, he directed many landmark ...
's ''
Himala'' before becoming the president and chief executive officer of
ABS-CBN Corporation
ABS-CBN Corporation is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino Media conglomerate, media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment television and film production, Broadcast syndication, progra ...
.
Actor Silayan recalled that for most films at the time he was not given a script beforehand and thus found his film acting shallower than what he was able to convey on stage. It was only on ''Kisapmata'' and Marilou Diaz-Abaya's 1983 film ''
Of the Flesh'' where he was given a script before shooting and thus able to add depth to the characters. On the character, Silayan said, "I don't think it was just authoritarian. It was insane possession."
Post-production
Deleted scene
A black-and-white dream sequence was filmed although it was removed in editing. As keeping deleted scenes was not the practice in the Philippines at the time of production, the footage was thrown away. Several photos of the deleted scene have survived. In the dream, the bank Mila and Noel work at is turned into a hospital, with Mila on a gurney being wheeled by Noel into the bank vault. Throughout the bank, the tellers are dressed as nurses with crucifixes in front of them. Noel shoots Mila, but instead of a bullet it is blood that is released from the gun. On the deleted scene, de Leon said, "I decided that the dream sequence was over the top and had no place in the film."
Censored scene
Due to its controversial theme, only subtle references to incest are used throughout the film. Nevertheless, ''Kisapmata'' was subjected to the
Board of Censors for Motion Pictures, then headed by Senator
Maria Kalaw Katigbak, who required de Leon to remove a scene where the father enters his daughter's room as she fearfully waits for him come in. Katigbak told de Leon that the scene "showed him
he fatherin an aroused state," to which the director, although complying with the demand, disagreed with.
Academic Nicanor Tiongson found that as a result "the point of the scene – the horror of incest – was obscured."
De Leon and the film's editor Jess Navarro were able to save the negatives of the scene by making a duplicate and spliciting it into a reel of negative out cuts from another film. The scene was re-added for the screening at the Cannes Film Festival. De Leon has referred to the Metro Manila Film Festival copy as the "theatrical version" and the Cannes Film Festival copy as the "final cut."
Themes and symbols

''Kisapmata'' is generally viewed as an allegory of the dictatorial regime of then President Ferdinand Marcos, a theme director Mike de Leon explores in his films ''Batch '81'' and ''Sister Stella L.'' Academic
Nicanor Tiongson found the violent and unreasonable relationship of Dadong Carandang, the over-possessive father, with Mila, his incest victim, as a microcosm of Marcos' rule. Released on the year that
martial law
Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
was lifted, during a time of growing political upheaval, the desperation and breakdown of the father as his daughter slips away subtly points towards the fragile condition of the Philippine nation.
Carandang house
The house used as the Carandang house in the film was located in Santa Mesa Heights, Quezon City and had the design of the prevailing domestic architectural style: a split-level suburban home. It was considered the first and biggest production requirement of the film, providing a crucial function to establish the setting and mood.
The Carandang house has been viewed as an "inanimate embodiment" of Dadong Carandang
or an "extension of the father's surveillance." Production designer Cesar Hernando found the split-level house "eerily similar" to the structure described in Nick Joaquin's article, where a person standing in the
sala below could watch the doors of the bedrooms and bathrooms on the upper floor. Hernando and his team filled the house with furniture, including adding the barbed wires on the gate, which emphasized the authoritarian rule and terror within the house.
Film academic Tito Quiling, Jr. notes: "From the archetypal image of a domestic space as a symbol of security, the home becomes a representation of threat."
Release
On December 24, 1981, a day before the opening of the 7th Metro Manila Film Festival, a temporary restraining order was filed by Asuncion Cabading to stop the screening of ''Kisapmata''. Cabading was the widow of the deceased police detective written about in "The House on Zapote Street." Director Mike de Leon admitted that the production team had forgotten that she survived the massacre. The issue was quickly resolved and the film was able to premier on schedule the following day.
After the film swept the Metro Manila Film Festival awards, de Leon recalled that actor-director
Fernando Poe Jr., whose film ''
Pagbabalik ng Panday'' was also in competition, told him, "I can make a ''Kisapmata'' any day in my life, but I challenge you to make a ''Panday''."
During the 7th Metro Manila Film Festival, Pierre-Henri Deleau, a Cannes organizer, invited de Leon to show ''Kisapmata'' along with the director's then-work-in-progress ''Batch '81'' at the 35th Cannes Film Festival. The two films screened at the Directors' Fortnight later that year. At the festival, French distributor Pascale Dauman offered to distribute ''Batch '81'' and ''Kisapmata'' throughout Europe. The plans, however, fell through after the producers of both of the films held issue with their proposed box office cut.
Restoration
The digital restoration of the film was originally funded by de Leon and used an original print the director had kept at the
Asian Film Archive in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. This print used was of the "final cut" that screened at the Cannes Film Festival, not the edited and censored version shown at the Metro Manila Film Festival. The restoration itself was done by L'Immagine Ritrovata, the same film lab De Leon worked with for the restoration of his 1982 film ''Batch '81'', as well as
Lino Brocka
Catalino Ortiz Brocka (April 3, 1939 – May 22, 1991) was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. His filmography often addressed the co ...
's 1975 film ''Manila in the Claws of Light'', on which de Leon was cinematographer and co-producer.
While ''Kisapmata'' was in the process of being restored,
Union Bank, the parent company of the defunct production company Bancom Audiovision, reimbursed de Leon half of the restoration cost and offered co-ownership.
On August 31, 2020, the restored version premiered at the 34th Il Cinema Ritrovato, a festival dedicated to recovered and restored classics, in Bologna, Italy.
The restoration's opening break bumper includes a dedication to several cast and crew members who had died since the original premiere: production designer Cesar Hernando, as well as actors Charito Solis, Jay Ilagan, Vic Silayan, and Ruben Rustia.
Home media
On December 19, 2020, the restored version of ''Kisapmata'' was made available to stream for free for one day through de Leon's
Vimeo
Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...
account "Citizen Jake." The original intention was to stream it on December 20 to coincide with the date of the final scene in the film, but it was determined that December 19, a Saturday, would have more viewers. Discussing the stream, de Leon commented, "I am calling it the most macabre Christmas movie ever."
The film was released on
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
in March 2023 as part of Carlotta Film's five-box set of select films directed by de Leon.
Stage Adaptation
In 2025, Tanghalang Pilipino adapted the movie as a stage play. The main cast had Jonathan Tadioan as Dadong, Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan as Dely, Toni Go-Yadao as Mila, and Marco Viaña as Noel. It was adapted from the movie version and directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca. The assistant directors were Rafael Jimenez and Kat Batara, the movement direction was done by JM Cabling, set design by Joey Mendoza, costume design by Bonsai Cielo, music and sound design Arvy Dimaculangan, lighting design and technical direction D Cortezano, and intimacy direction by Missy Maramara.
Reception
Critical response
In an article on the 7th Metro Manila Film Festival,
Elliott Stein found the performance of Vic Silayan memorable but the film's direction to be heavy-handed.
Upon the release of its restoration, the film saw positive retrospective reviews from Filipino critics. Noel Vera, writing for ''
BusinessWorld
''BusinessWorld'' is a business newspaper in the Philippines with a nationwide circulation of more than 117,000 (as of March 2014). Founded in 1967 as ''Business Day'', it is Southeast Asia's first daily business newspaper.
History
''Busin ...
'', called ''Kisapmata'' "easily Mike de Leon's masterpiece" and "one of the greatest Filipino films."
Similarly,
Oggs Cruz
Francis Joseph "Oggs" Cruz is a Filipino lawyer and film critic best known for his reviews of Philippine New Wave films in prominent publications including the Philippine Star, the Philippines Free Press and Rappler
Rappler (portmanteau of ...
considered the film de Leon's "masterpiece" going on to say "the characters in de Leon's films are real human beings – they work, they interact with other people, they have needs and ambitions. It is that factor that turns this nightmare even far more chilling that
Hitchcock's masterpiece
Psycho''">Psycho_(1960_film).html" ;"title="'Psycho (1960 film)">Psycho''"
Accolades
At the 7th Metro Manila Film Festival, ''Kisapmata'' won ten of the festival awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Story, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Silayan), Best Supporting Actor (Ilagan), Best Supporting Actress (Solis), Best Editing, Best Production Design, and Best Sound Engineering. It also won the Gawad Urian awards for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Music, and Best Sound.
See also
* ''Jaguar (1979 film)">Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
'' – 1979 Filipino film also produced by Bancom Audiovision and based on a crime reportage story by Nick Joaquin
* ''
on YouTube
{{MMFF
1980s psychological horror films
1980s Tagalog-language films
1981 drama films
1981 films
1981 horror films
Films directed by Mike De Leon