
Directing
Eloy de la Iglesia
Born — Died
1944-01-01 — 2006-03-23
Place of birth
Zarautz, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Known for
Directing
Credits
49 titles
De la Iglesia was an outspoken gay socialist filmmaker relatively unknown outside of Spain, despite a prolific and successful career in his native country. He is best remembered for having portrayed urban marginality and the world of drugs and juvenile delinquency in the early 1980s, and his films serve as an archive of the Spanish marginality of this era. Is other words, his work is closely related to the phenomenon popularly known in Spain as "quinqui cinema". His films are an example of commitment to the immediate reality; they were made with honesty and great risk, against the conformist outlook of most movies of its time. Many of this films also deal with the theme of homosexuality.
Known for
4.2A boxing manager discovers that one of the boxers who have been promoted in love with a protected model and his mistress. Mad with jealousy, organized a match between it and another fighter who are friends with each other. Revenge in this case will be bitter.
Cuadrilátero
1970
6.1A young man, Marco, working as a butcher, accidentally kills a taxi driver. His girlfriend Paula wants to go to the police so he has to kill her too. He then has to kill his brother, his brother’s fiancée and his father, who have become suspicious. He gets rid of the bodies by taking them to a slaughter house.
The Cannibal Man
1972
NRA dauntless film director, an enfant terrible in his early days, confrontational with censorship, always pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression, chronicler of the darkest corners of the transition, De la Iglesia will fall into the clutches of drug addiction, being forgotten and sometimes repudiated for more than a decade before eventually shaking off the ostracism to make films once again, that habit he could never kick.
Eloy de la Iglesia: Film Addict
2025
5.1The film begins with a school teacher bidding farewell to his students, who are leaving for the summer. As he is heading home he notices two of his students are hitch-hiking and picks them up. He invites them over for dinner and lodging, which they accept.. The majority of the film from this point on is set at the mansion, where the two students turn from guests to prisoners under the teacher's command.
Forbidden Love Game
1975
4.9Rafael, a young man from the provinces, works as a waiter in a resort and helps himself economically having sex for money with rich older women. During a bomb threat, he is discovered in bed with one of the guest, Leonor Marchioness of Montenegro, and he is fired as a consequence. The Marchioness of Montenegro is an aging aristocrat, ruined economically, but still with wealthy and influential friends. She helps Rafael finds a new job in Madrid as the gardener in the mansion of Antonio Fernández Herrador, Minister of economy in the new democratic Spanish government.
The Minister's Wife
1981
6.0Obsessed with fantasies of sex, Father Miguel seeks professional help through his church but they are not listening; thus leaving the Father in a dilemma; leaving the church or should he try, on his own, to surrender to these temptations?
The Priest
1978
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
NRA dauntless film director, an enfant terrible in his early days, confrontational with censorship, always pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression, chronicler of the darkest corners of the transition, De la Iglesia will fall into the clutches of drug addiction, being forgotten and sometimes repudiated for more than a decade before eventually shaking off the ostracism to make films once again, that habit he could never kick.
Eloy de la Iglesia: Film Addict
2025
NRQuinqui cinema encompassed a series of Spanish crime films with a unique national sensibility, as they reflected the times of the Franco dictatorship transition. Guided by academics Mery Cuesta and Tom Whittaker, this featurette explores this explosive subgenre.
Blood in the Streets: The Quinqui Film Phenomenon
2021
1980s · 4 titles
4.9Rafael, a young man from the provinces, works as a waiter in a resort and helps himself economically having sex for money with rich older women. During a bomb threat, he is discovered in bed with one of the guest, Leonor Marchioness of Montenegro, and he is fired as a consequence. The Marchioness of Montenegro is an aging aristocrat, ruined economically, but still with wealthy and influential friends. She helps Rafael finds a new job in Madrid as the gardener in the mansion of Antonio Fernández Herrador, Minister of economy in the new democratic Spanish government.
The Minister's Wife
1981
6.5A chronicle of the life of Jaro, the leader of a juvenile delinquent gang, depicting his rise from street urchin to outlaw anti-hero on the way to his inevitable end.
Navajeros
1980
6.6Paco, the teenage son of a Civil Guard commander in Basque Country, becomes addicted to heroin.
Overdose
1983
6.4Following the events of El pico, the heroin-addicted Paco faces jail time due to his involvement in a double murder.
El pico 2
1984
Behind the camera
4.2A boxing manager discovers that one of the boxers who have been promoted in love with a protected model and his mistress. Mad with jealousy, organized a match between it and another fighter who are friends with each other. Revenge in this case will be bitter.
Cuadrilátero
1970
6.1A young man, Marco, working as a butcher, accidentally kills a taxi driver. His girlfriend Paula wants to go to the police so he has to kill her too. He then has to kill his brother, his brother’s fiancée and his father, who have become suspicious. He gets rid of the bodies by taking them to a slaughter house.
The Cannibal Man
1972
6.1A young man, Marco, working as a butcher, accidentally kills a taxi driver. His girlfriend Paula wants to go to the police so he has to kill her too. He then has to kill his brother, his brother’s fiancée and his father, who have become suspicious. He gets rid of the bodies by taking them to a slaughter house.
The Cannibal Man
1972
5.1The film begins with a school teacher bidding farewell to his students, who are leaving for the summer. As he is heading home he notices two of his students are hitch-hiking and picks them up. He invites them over for dinner and lodging, which they accept.. The majority of the film from this point on is set at the mansion, where the two students turn from guests to prisoners under the teacher's command.
Forbidden Love Game
1975
5.1The film begins with a school teacher bidding farewell to his students, who are leaving for the summer. As he is heading home he notices two of his students are hitch-hiking and picks them up. He invites them over for dinner and lodging, which they accept.. The majority of the film from this point on is set at the mansion, where the two students turn from guests to prisoners under the teacher's command.
Forbidden Love Game
1975
4.9Rafael, a young man from the provinces, works as a waiter in a resort and helps himself economically having sex for money with rich older women. During a bomb threat, he is discovered in bed with one of the guest, Leonor Marchioness of Montenegro, and he is fired as a consequence. The Marchioness of Montenegro is an aging aristocrat, ruined economically, but still with wealthy and influential friends. She helps Rafael finds a new job in Madrid as the gardener in the mansion of Antonio Fernández Herrador, Minister of economy in the new democratic Spanish government.
The Minister's Wife
1981
4.9Rafael, a young man from the provinces, works as a waiter in a resort and helps himself economically having sex for money with rich older women. During a bomb threat, he is discovered in bed with one of the guest, Leonor Marchioness of Montenegro, and he is fired as a consequence. The Marchioness of Montenegro is an aging aristocrat, ruined economically, but still with wealthy and influential friends. She helps Rafael finds a new job in Madrid as the gardener in the mansion of Antonio Fernández Herrador, Minister of economy in the new democratic Spanish government.
The Minister's Wife
1981
6.0Obsessed with fantasies of sex, Father Miguel seeks professional help through his church but they are not listening; thus leaving the Father in a dilemma; leaving the church or should he try, on his own, to surrender to these temptations?
The Priest
1978
6.5A chronicle of the life of Jaro, the leader of a juvenile delinquent gang, depicting his rise from street urchin to outlaw anti-hero on the way to his inevitable end.
Navajeros
1980
6.5A chronicle of the life of Jaro, the leader of a juvenile delinquent gang, depicting his rise from street urchin to outlaw anti-hero on the way to his inevitable end.
Navajeros
1980
4.7Set in the future, the story follows a nurse who tries to bring her own style of relief to people condemned to die. Her identity is a mystery and she may not be quite what she seems.
Murder in a Blue World
1973
4.7Set in the future, the story follows a nurse who tries to bring her own style of relief to people condemned to die. Her identity is a mystery and she may not be quite what she seems.
Murder in a Blue World
1973
6.3Leandro, an unemployed mason and his friend, Tocho, attempt to rob a tobacconist in the Vallecas district of Madrid, but Mrs. Justa, the tobacconist, impedes it alerting the neighbors who notify police. Inside the shop, the confrontation between the two friends and their 'hostages', the tobacconist and her niece Angeles, is relaxing, and a budding sympathy arises between them.
The Tobacconist of Vallecas
1987
6.3Leandro, an unemployed mason and his friend, Tocho, attempt to rob a tobacconist in the Vallecas district of Madrid, but Mrs. Justa, the tobacconist, impedes it alerting the neighbors who notify police. Inside the shop, the confrontation between the two friends and their 'hostages', the tobacconist and her niece Angeles, is relaxing, and a budding sympathy arises between them.
The Tobacconist of Vallecas
1987
6.2José is an unemployed 18-year-old living in a cramped apartment in the slums of Madrid. Marginalized by poverty, José spends his time with his friend Antonio. However, when José gets his girlfriend, Rosario, pregnant, the two friends try anything to get the money to pay for her to have an abortion.
Pals
1982
6.2José is an unemployed 18-year-old living in a cramped apartment in the slums of Madrid. Marginalized by poverty, José spends his time with his friend Antonio. However, when José gets his girlfriend, Rosario, pregnant, the two friends try anything to get the money to pay for her to have an abortion.
Pals
1982
5.8Eduardo, a wealthy banker who has a pastime for hiring young street hustlers to keep his bed warm, spots Miguel, a handsome teen who has a penchant for women and motorcycles.
Hidden Pleasures
1977
5.8Eduardo, a wealthy banker who has a pastime for hiring young street hustlers to keep his bed warm, spots Miguel, a handsome teen who has a penchant for women and motorcycles.
Hidden Pleasures
1977
5.6Graying Spaniard Daniel has a healthy budget for indulging in the finer things in life. Daniel's favorite luxury is playing sponsor to younger men amid the lights and sights of Madrid's gay club scene. After Daniel shares a night with handsome Bulgarian emigre Kyril, he finds himself consumed with an insatiable lust for the charismatic foreigner. But, as their relationship takes shape, Daniel's latest conquest reveals his own manipulative tendencies.
Bulgarian Lovers
2003
5.6Graying Spaniard Daniel has a healthy budget for indulging in the finer things in life. Daniel's favorite luxury is playing sponsor to younger men amid the lights and sights of Madrid's gay club scene. After Daniel shares a night with handsome Bulgarian emigre Kyril, he finds himself consumed with an insatiable lust for the charismatic foreigner. But, as their relationship takes shape, Daniel's latest conquest reveals his own manipulative tendencies.
Bulgarian Lovers
2003
6.6Paco, the teenage son of a Civil Guard commander in Basque Country, becomes addicted to heroin.
Overdose
1983
6.6Paco, the teenage son of a Civil Guard commander in Basque Country, becomes addicted to heroin.
Overdose
1983
6.1Roberto, a leader and follower of the ideals of his radical leftist opposition party, can’t resist the cheap beautiful street teenagers that are thrown his way for various pleasures.
Confessions of a Congressman
1978
6.1Roberto, a leader and follower of the ideals of his radical leftist opposition party, can’t resist the cheap beautiful street teenagers that are thrown his way for various pleasures.
Confessions of a Congressman
1978
6.4Following the events of El pico, the heroin-addicted Paco faces jail time due to his involvement in a double murder.
El pico 2
1984
6.4Following the events of El pico, the heroin-addicted Paco faces jail time due to his involvement in a double murder.
El pico 2
1984
5.3A lonely housewife hears a man’s footsteps in the apartment above her late at night. The upstairs neighbor insists it is her husband who has returned from business but her explanations are soon contradicted. The woman begins to think her neighbor has murdered her husband.
The Glass Ceiling
1971
5.3A lonely housewife hears a man’s footsteps in the apartment above her late at night. The upstairs neighbor insists it is her husband who has returned from business but her explanations are soon contradicted. The woman begins to think her neighbor has murdered her husband.
The Glass Ceiling
1971
4.9A young man is hired to take care of two orphaned siblings in a remote seaside mansion and soon realizes that someone... or something from the past is out to get the children.
Turn of the Screw
1985
4.9A young man is hired to take care of two orphaned siblings in a remote seaside mansion and soon realizes that someone... or something from the past is out to get the children.
Turn of the Screw
1985
4.6Marcos, an important businessman working in Madrid, is wealthy, ambitious and has political aspirations. On top of it, he has a beautiful wife, Diana. Their married life, however, is marred by the fact that, after years of married life, they do not have children. At the last minute Diana backs down from adopting a Vietnamese orphan. She is determined to have a biological child. However, Marcos is sterile and has kept this a secret from his wife. When he tells her the truth, Diana reveals that she already knew it having recently consulted a gynecologist who determined that she can conceive.
The Other Bedroom
1976
4.6Marcos, an important businessman working in Madrid, is wealthy, ambitious and has political aspirations. On top of it, he has a beautiful wife, Diana. Their married life, however, is marred by the fact that, after years of married life, they do not have children. At the last minute Diana backs down from adopting a Vietnamese orphan. She is determined to have a biological child. However, Marcos is sterile and has kept this a secret from his wife. When he tells her the truth, Diana reveals that she already knew it having recently consulted a gynecologist who determined that she can conceive.
The Other Bedroom
1976
5.2A bank employee, shy and skittish, is falling into the web of fear of the events he sees around him and the crime wave that seems to invade the city.
Afraid to Go Out at Night
1980
5.2A bank employee, shy and skittish, is falling into the web of fear of the events he sees around him and the crime wave that seems to invade the city.
Afraid to Go Out at Night
1980
5.7Elisa witnesses her neighbor, Miguel, dump his wife's corpse into an elevator shaft and is forced to be his prime accomplice to get rid of the body. The situation slowly spirals as a relationship forms between them, followed by the unforeseen return of Elisa's current lover.
No One Heard the Scream
1973
5.7Elisa witnesses her neighbor, Miguel, dump his wife's corpse into an elevator shaft and is forced to be his prime accomplice to get rid of the body. The situation slowly spirals as a relationship forms between them, followed by the unforeseen return of Elisa's current lover.
No One Heard the Scream
1973
4.2After a heartbreaking miscarriage, a couple adopts a stray male dog in hopes of saving their rocky marriage. But as the wife develops an obsessive bond with her new companion, it will trigger jealousies and rivalries that may lead to the most inconceivable act of all.
The Creature
1977
5.0The film is an adaptation of three fairy tales classics of children literature. "The Maiden of the Sea" tells the story of Coraline, a mermaid who wants to be human afte she falls in love with a Sailor Prince. "The 3 hairs of the Devil" tells the story of Tomasin, a young man of humble background, which a seer had a presentiment that he would marry the daughter of the king, who must perform a series of tests to avoid death, and marriage the princess is accepted by the king. "The Wizard of Oz" tells the story of Sylvia, a girl who get lost in the woods with her dog Toto, and along with her friends The Scarecrow, The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, have been snatched the brain, heart and courage, respectively. They go the Emerald City to request help from the Wizard of Oz adapting three children’s stories: , The three hairs from the devil and The Wizard of Oz.
Fantasía... 3
1966
5.0The film is an adaptation of three fairy tales classics of children literature. "The Maiden of the Sea" tells the story of Coraline, a mermaid who wants to be human afte she falls in love with a Sailor Prince. "The 3 hairs of the Devil" tells the story of Tomasin, a young man of humble background, which a seer had a presentiment that he would marry the daughter of the king, who must perform a series of tests to avoid death, and marriage the princess is accepted by the king. "The Wizard of Oz" tells the story of Sylvia, a girl who get lost in the woods with her dog Toto, and along with her friends The Scarecrow, The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, have been snatched the brain, heart and courage, respectively. They go the Emerald City to request help from the Wizard of Oz adapting three children’s stories: , The three hairs from the devil and The Wizard of Oz.
Fantasía... 3
1966
4.9A young man goes to a relative's house to celebrate Christmas, and finds that three female family members of different ages seek to advance their romantic attention.
Something Bitter in the Mouth
1969

