R.I.P. Carlos Aured

Carlos Aured, who directed several cult films in the seventies, has died. Particular favourites of mine include Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, a nutty giallo and Horror Rises from the Tomb, in which Paul Naschy’s head falls off a lot.

Quoting Nzoog on the European Film Review Board:

Born in Murcia in 1937, he started out as an assistant director on Ricardo Blasco’s GRINGO and the Steffen vehicle A STRANGER IN PASO BRAVO, as well as Berlanga’s ¡VIVAN LOS NOVIOS! plus a great many films by León Klimovski. He made his debut as a director with the Paul Naschy film HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB. His career continued in similar vein in the first half of the seventies, including the Iberian giallo THE BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL. When Spanish horror fell into disfavour, he became one of the most conspicuous makers of Madrid-made softcore films, although he also made one Catalan softcore film in ELHOMBRE DEL PITO MÁGICO. His greatest hit in the erotic genre was the comedy EL FONTANERO, SU MUJER Y OTRAS COSAS DE METER, but he is more appreciated internationally for APOCALIPSIS SEXUAL, starring Lina Romay and Ajita Wilson.

Aured later worked as a hardcore film programmer Spanish pay-TV. In recent times he was slated to direct what would have been a return to his origins, a Paul Naschy film called EMPUSA. He was later replaced by Naschy himself a few days into the filming for reasons that aren’t clear.

Carlos Aured Alonso died of a heart attack on 3 February 2003.

There’s a neat interview with Aured on the Sinister Tales website.