Zialcita dominated the cinema in the late 1970s and much of the 1980s. He was famous for films with very long titles: “Gaano Kadalas and Minsan?”, “Nagalit ang Buwan sa Haba ng Gabi”, “ Hawakan mo at Pigilan ang Kahapon”.
Writing his own scripts, Zialcita is known for his poetic dialogues delivered in machine-gun speed: “Puwede bang makausap ang ang asawa ko na asawa mo na asawa ng bayan?” Laurice Guillen famously asked Gloria Diaz over the phone in “Nagalit ang Buwan”. Ang sala sa init, sala sa lamig, iniluluwa ng langit, isinusuka ng Diyos”, said Vilma Santos to Nora Aunot in “Si T-Bird at Ako”.
While he is remembered for films with narratives that dealt with infidelity, betrayal, love and lust among the beautiful, rich and the tormented, Zialcita actually began his directing in the 1960s with action films like “Palos Strikes Again!”, :Hammerhead” and “Bart Salamanca”.
Danny Zialcita with Elizabeth Oropesa and Pinky de Leon in “Kabiyak” (1980)