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“Kisapmata” is another notorious as much as significant movie in the history of Filipino cinema, for a number of reasons. For starters, the plot was inspired by the crime reportage “The House on Zapote Street” written by Nick Joaquin, with the piece chronicling the events leading up to the highly publicized familicide committed by Pablo Cabading, a retired policeman. The film included the first major treatment of incest in the history of the country's cinema, while its message was perceived to be against both patriarchy and the regime of then President Ferdinand Marcos, which expectedly led to issues with the Censorship Board. Despite all its issues, the film premiered at the 7th Metro Manila Film Festival, where it won 10 awards, including Best Film, while it was also screened at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival during the Directors' Fortnight. Furthermore, the Filipino Film Critics included it in their list of Ten Best Films of the Decade,...

While the country had experimented with the format before, it wasn’t until 1984 that the Philippines really got a handle on the Anthology format. Already perfected in Britain through the stellar works of Amicus Studios as well as the US with George A. Romero’s masterclass in “CreepShow,” three big directors in the genre, Ishmael Bernal (“City After Dark”), Emmanuel Horlaza (“Dugo ng Vampira”) and Peque Gallaga (“Tiyanak”) created a massive hit in their homeland that started a franchise which has extended into one of the longest-running series in the genre as a whole.

The first story, “Baso”, isn’t necessarily the fastest-paced entry for an anthology opener but was enjoyable nonetheless. Arriving at a friends’ house, friends Johnny (Joel Torre), Paolo (Rey Abellana) and Girlie (Arlene Murloch) decide to pass the time playing a game known as Spirit of the glass, which puts them in contact with a trio of spirits.