Blood Spare Land (1969), also classified as Dugso, is an action crime film from the Philippines directed by Gerardo de Leon. The film portrays a gangster saga with drama that has action and sexploitation elements and it is amongst the films classified under the action genre of the Filipinos in essence in the 1960’s.
Plot:
The main storyline focuses on the competition between different mafia families, trying to dominate in certain fields, known as “turf”. Aggression grows when these gangs strive for their due: vengeance, usurpation and sanguinary acute accouterments of warfare. The film’s title correctly depicts the conflict that lies at the heart of the proceeding, the fight for real estate by maiming and killing one’s opponents.
Themes:
Gang Wars: The movie-ad lete concentrates on the ruthless nature of gang warfare over the same territory and gang politics.
Loyalty and Betrayal: Within the criminal world that the film depicts, there are issues of trust and betrayal – particularly trust that is misplaced.
Brutality and Violence: As the title of the movie implies, the film does not hold back when it comes to showing violent battles between its opposing factions, and they are indeed well-graphic in nature.
Leadership and Impact:
Gerardo de Leon is a figure of respect and productivity in Philippine cinema who achieves a balance between stylized action and gritty realism. “Bloody Territories” is such a work of his other works aimed at creating the action genre in the Philippines during that time.
Making the film does not gain any public fame beyond the confines of Filipino film appreciation history, but it remains a nice case study of 1960s crime action films made in Southeast Asia
