Eugenio Martín

{{short description|Spanish film director and screenwriter (1925–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{family name hatnote|Martín|Márquez|lang=Spanish}} {{Infobox person | name = Eugenio Martín | birth_name = Eugenio Martín Márquez | birth_date = {{birth date|1925|05|15|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Ceuta]], Spain | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|1|23|1925|5|15|df=y}} | death_place = [[Madrid]], Spain | occupation = [[Film director]] and [[screenwriter]] | alma_mater = [[Universidad de Granada]] }}

'''Eugenio Martín Márquez''' (15 May 1925 – 23 January 2023) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He was known for the low-budget [[Film genre|genre film]]s he made in the 1960s and 1970s, including ''[[Bad Man's River]]'', ''[[The Bounty Killer]]'', and ''[[Horror Express]]'', the latter being particularly notable for its inclusion of the well-known English actors [[Christopher Lee]] and [[Peter Cushing]], famous for their work with [[Hammer Films]]. Though never remarkably successful either at the box office or among critics, Martín's films, particularly ''Horror Express'', have achieved cult status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mondo-digital.com/horrorexpress.html |title=Horror Express |date=25 October 2011 |access-date=5 November 2013 |language=es |work=Mondo Digital}}</ref> The popular [[horror film]] magazine ''[[Fangoria]]'' included ''Horror Express'' in its book, ''101 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen: A Celebration of the World's Most Unheralded Fright Flicks''.

==Early life and first films== Martín was born on 15 May 1925 in [[Ceuta]]. He was a child when the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out. Since the uprising first broke out among Nationalist generals in Spanish Africa,<ref>{{cite book |last=Brenan |first=Gerald |author-link=Gerald Brenan |title=The Spanish Labyrinth |url=https://archive.org/stream/spanishlabyrinth001334mbp#page/n315/mode/2up |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1943 |page=316}}</ref> the African port city of Ceuta was immediately embroiled in violence. Following the death or arrest of friends and family members, Martín's family fled to [[Granada]] on the Spanish mainland. After publishing a volume of [[poetry|verse]], Martín's interests veered toward cinema, and while still at university he created Granada's first film society. Though he considered leaving [[Francoist]] Spain for a less censorious environment, he eventually decided to stay in Spain, accepted into the "Institute of Cinematic Investigation and Experiences" in [[Madrid]]. At the institute, Martín made a series of well-regarded short films and documentaries before making his first feature film ''Despedida de soltero'' ("Farewell to the Single Life"), in 1957.<ref name=CR>{{cite journal |url=http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/5352-BOOK-REVIEW-A-BIOGRAPHY-OF-DIRECTOR-EUGENIO-MARTN.html |title=Book Review: A Biography of Director Eugenio... |date=11 January 2011 |access-date=5 November 2013 |journal=[[Cinema Retro]]}}</ref>

==International collaborations and commercial success== When European film crews began frequently using Spain as an affordable site for [[location shooting]], Martín took advantage of opportunities for collaboration and worked with a number of foreign directors, most notably [[Nicholas Ray]]. He had the opportunity to direct films using international casts and crew which familiarized him with many different players in [[Cinema in the 1960s|1960s cinema]], by many accounts among the most fertile and creative periods in film history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicboxfilms.com/story-of-film--an-odyssey--the-movies-48.php |work=[[Music Box Films]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026034828/http://www.musicboxfilms.com/story-of-film--an-odyssey--the-movies-48.php |archive-date=26 October 2012 |title=STORY OF FILM: AN ODYSSEY, THE |access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/movies-from-1960s-were-most-creative-in-cinema-history-study-finds/ |work=[[CBS News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105140404/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57607438/ |archive-date=5 November 2013 |title=Movies from 1960s were most creative in cinema history, study finds |date=14 October 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref>

In 1966 Martín directed ''[[The Bounty Killer]]'' (released as ''The Ugly Ones'' in the [[United States]]), the first of many [[Westerns]] he was to create. It remains among his better known works; dialogue from the film was [[sampling (music)|sampled]] in the [[RZA]] track, "Ode to Django," which appeared in the credits of the 2012 [[Quentin Tarantino]] film ''[[Django Unchained]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/beyond-the-soundtrack-more-music-in-django-unchained-also-includes-cuts-by-the-rza-richie-havens-more-morricone-bacalov-20121221#! |work=[[Indiewire]] |title=Beyond The Soundtrack: All The Music In 'Django Unchained' Including Cuts By RZA, Richie Havens, Ennio Morricone & More |first=Edward |last=Davis |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref> The director maintained that the concept behind his film antedated and influenced the [[Sergio Leone]] film ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'', worked on by [[Duccio Tessari]] - a mutual acquaintance of Martín and his friend and former teacher [[José G. Maesso]].<ref name=CR/>

Martín made several [[Musical film|musicals]] and [[giallo]]-type films in the following years, solidifying his reputation as "an ''[[auteur (film)|auteur]]'' in every genre", per the subtitle of a recent [[biography]]. The director's filmography and competence in [[English language|English]] led American [[film producer|producer]] [[Philip Yordan]] to contract him for three films, which remain among his better-known works: ''Bad Man's River'', ''[[Pancho Villa (film)|Pancho Villa]]'', and ''Horror Express''.<ref name=CR/> These films have decidedly uneven critical reputations, but the latter especially remains a favorite among fans of its lead actors, [[Christopher Lee]] and [[Peter Cushing]].

Martín's international profile dropped significantly after his 1973 film, ''[[A Candle for the Devil]],'' released in [[North America]] as ''It Happened at Nightmare Inn.'' After this release, most of his work was in Spanish-language [[television]].

On 11 October 2017, he was honored for the fiftieth anniversary of his film ''[[El precio de un hombre]]'' (1967) at the 7th [[Almería Western Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Martínez |first=Evaristo |title=Siete disparos certeros: Almería Western Film Festival en siete claves |url=https://www.lavozdealmeria.com/noticia/5/vivir/139476/siete-disparos-certeros-almeria-western-film-festival-en-siete-claves |date=11 October 2017 |access-date=31 January 2018 |newspaper=[[La Voz de Almería]] |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Europa Press |author-link=Europa Press (news agency) |title=La séptima edición del 'Almería Western Film Festival' llenará Tabernas de cine del 11 al 14 de octubre |url=http://www.elperiodico.com/es/ocio-y-cultura/20170915/la-septima-edicion-del-almeria-western-film-festival-llenara-tabernas-de-cine-del-11-al-14-de-octubre-6288235 |date=15 September 2017 |access-date=31 January 2018 |newspaper=[[El Periódico de Catalunya]] |language=es}}</ref>

==Personal life and death== Martín died in Madrid on 23 January 2023, at the age of 97.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muere Eugenio Martín, director de 'Pánico en el Transiberiano' y maestro español de Tarantino |url=https://www.elmundo.es/cultura/cine/2023/01/23/63ce68fafc6c83a1798b4581.html |access-date=23 January 2023 |publisher=El Mundo |date=23 January 2023}}</ref>

==Selected filmography== * ''{{Interlanguage link|Il conquistatore di Maracaibo|it}}'' (1961), starring [[Hans von Borsody]] * ''Despedida de soltero'' (1961), starring [[Germán Cobos]], [[Silvia Solar]] * ''{{ill|Hypnosis (1962 film)|de|3=Nur tote Zeugen schweigen|lt=Hypnosis}}'' (1962), starring [[Götz George]], [[Jean Sorel]], [[Heinz Drache]] * ''[[Golden Goddess of Rio Beni]]'' (1964), starring [[Pierre Brice]] * ''[[Captain from Toledo]]'' (1965), starring {{ill|Stephen Forsyth|fr}} * ''[[The Bounty Killer]]'' (1967), starring [[Tomas Milian]] * ''[[Requiem for a Gringo]]'' (1968) * ''Una señora estupenda'' (1967), starring [[Lola Flores]] * ''Las Leandras'' (1969), starring [[Rocío Dúrcal]] * ''{{Interlanguage link|La vida sigue igual (film)|es|3=La vida sigue igual (película)|lt=La vida sigue igual}}'' (1969), starring [[Julio Iglesias]] * ''{{Interlanguage link|The Fourth Victim|it|3=In fondo alla piscina|lt=The Fourth Victim}}'' (1971) {{aka}} ''Death at the Deep End of the Swimming Pool'', starring [[Carroll Baker]] * ''[[Bad Man's River]]'' (1971), starring [[Lee Van Cleef]], [[Gina Lollobrigida]], [[James Mason]] * ''[[Horror Express]]'' (1972), starring [[Peter Cushing]], [[Christopher Lee]], [[Telly Savalas]] * ''[[Pancho Villa (film)|Pancho Villa]]'' (1972), starring [[Telly Savalas]], [[Clint Walker]] * ''A Candle for the Devil'' (1973) {{aka}} ''It Happened at Nightmare Inn'', starring [[Judy Geeson]] * ''[[The Girl from the Red Cabaret]]'' (1973), starring [[Mel Ferrer]], [[Marisol (actress)|Marisol]] * ''No quiero perder la honra'' (1975), starring [[Ángela Molina]], [[José Sacristán]] * ''Esclava te doy'' (1976), starring [[Alfredo Landa]] * ''Call Girl'' (1976) * ''Tengamos la guerra en paz'' (1977) * ''Aquella casa en las afueras'' (1980) aka ''The House in the Outskirts'' * ''Supernatural'' (1981) {{aka}} ''Return of the Poltergeist'', starring [[Cristina Galbó]] * ''La sal de la vida'' (1996), starring [[Patxi Andión]], [[Ivonne Reyes]], [[Juan Diego Botto]]

==Further reading== *Aguilar, Carlos and Anita Haas. ''Eugenio Martín, un autor para todos los géneros''. Retroback & Séptimo Vicio. Spain: 2008. *Lukeman, Adam, ed. ''101 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen: A Celebration of the World's Most Unheralded Fright Flicks''. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Random House]], 2011.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0554632}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Eugenio}} [[Category:1925 births]] [[Category:2023 deaths]] [[Category:People from Ceuta]] [[Category:Spanish screenwriters]] [[Category:Spanish male screenwriters]] [[Category:Giallo film directors]] [[Category:Spanish horror film directors]]