First of all, yes, this is the famous movie where Lito Lapid aimed his gun at the blade of the dagger and split the bullet killing two people with one shot.
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| Julio Valiente |
San Basilio is a 1981 Filipino action film directed by Joey del Rosario and Tony Cruz. Featuring the masked folk hero Julio Valiente, the film stars Lito Lapid, a farmer and altar boy who assumes the role of Valiente to save the town from the clutches of the evil landlord Señor Escobar.
The henchmen of Señor Escobar (Johnny Delgado) prepare their weapons to ambush Julio Valiente. Elsewhere in the town of San Basilio, pregnant Dolor dela Cruz (Perla Bautista) is in the verge of giving birth. Valiente meets Escobar's group near the sugarcane fields and kills some of his men.
Traitorous gunmen, however, kill Valiente. Meanwhile, Dolor gives birth to a child named Estanislao, or Islaw for short. Escobar drags the body of Valiente to the churchyard in the town plaza. Upon reaching the place, he asserts that San Basilio has lost its defender giving way to his self-proclamation as the "King of San Basilio."
Many years have passed and Islaw (Lapid) becomes a farmer like his father Andres and an altar server for the parish priest Padre Anselmo (Joonee Gamboa). He also woos the schoolteacher Sabel (Diane Jose), the daughter of Kulas (Lito Anzures). Kulas, a drunkard, claims to be an old friend of Valiente.
Escobar, on the other hand, grew richer and more powerful since the death of Valiente. Desiring for more land to accommodate irrigation for his sugarcane fields, Escobar asks his lead henchman Diablo (Paquito Diaz) to use all means to harass and force the townspeople to sell their lands. All relented, except Andres.
Andres meets other townspeople to reconsider their decisions and think about the future of their children. He and his wife paid the price of resisting - they were gunned down by Diablo and his cohorts.
Islaw sees the lifeless bodies of his parents on the ground after returning from his altar duties. After burying them, a horse suddenly appears to Islaw. The horse leads him to a cave, where he saw a chest that contains a mask and a pair of machetes encased in sheaths made of gold.
Padre Anselmo later tells Islaw what he saw is enough evidence that the cave was Valiente's lair. Islaw then learns from Padre Anselmo who Valiente was. Islaw then uses the contents of the chest he found in the cave to assume the persona of Valiente in an attempt to stop Escobar's reign of abuse and violence over the townspeople.
Lito Lapid's awesomeness in this movie will kill all your Chuck Norrises!
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