PETALING JAYA, March 5 — Since its premiere on February 21, eagle-eyed audience members and film buffs are claiming that the Syafiq Yusof-directed psychological horror Misteri Dilaila is a ‘rip-off’ of Vanishing Act from 1986.

According to Malay news portal Harian Metro, viewers claimed that nearly 80 per cent of Misteri Dilaila’s storyline bore similarities to the David Green-directed film which starred Mike Farrel and Margot Kidder.

While some horror fans noted that the only difference was replacing the dog in Vanishing Act with a cat, other fans expressed disappointment for being fooled by the uncannily similar storyline, publishing their thoughts on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

Harian Metro’s attempt to contact Syafiq to seek clarification on the allegation was unsuccessful.

However, the director previously told the Malay language portal that his film was inspired by the South Korean films The Forgotten and Challenging.

It was also previously reported that Misteri Dilaila could be compared to a Tamil film Puthiya Paravai which was made in 1964 to which Syafiq responded by saying it was the first time he had heard of the Indian film.

In other reports, Syafiq’s father and Misteri Dilaila producer Datuk Yusof Haslam asked the public to give his son space to address the allegations of plagiarism.

Yusof told Kosmo! Online that Skop Production is reluctant to issue any statements for the time being to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.

“For the time being, I beg for all parties to make room for my son and Skop Production.

“We will give a formal statement on this matter in due time,” the veteran filmmaker said.

Misteri Dilaila which stars Zul Ariffin, Sasqia Dahuri, Elizabeth Tan, Datuk Rosyam Nor and Nam Ron has earned over RM4 million in box office collections since its premiere on February 21.