Eugenio Martín Márquez (15 May 1925 – 23 January 2023) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He was known for the low-budget genre films 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.[1] 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.
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,[2] 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 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.[3]
International collaborations and commercial success[edit]
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 1960s cinema, by many accounts among the most fertile and creative periods in film history.[4][5]
Martín made several musicals and giallo-type films in the following years, solidifying his reputation as "an auteur in every genre", per the subtitle of a recent biography. The director's filmography and competence in English led American producerPhilip Yordan to contract him for three films, which remain among his better-known works: Bad Man's River, Pancho Villa, and Horror Express.[3] 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 AmericaasIt 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 7º Almería Western Film Festival.[7][8]
