Fred Dekker (born April 9, 1959) is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

best known for his

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

horror comedy films '' Night of the Creeps'' and ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American horror comedy film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. T ...

'' (written with

Shane Black Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor, known for his distinctive style of Action film, action and action comedy films. He is the original creator of the ''Lethal Weapon (franchise), Lethal Wea ...

). He contributed the story ideas for ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'' (1985) and ''

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

'' (1991), and also directed and co-wrote '' RoboCop 3'' with Frank Miller. One of his earliest movies was a short film he made in college titled ''Starcruisers'', directed in the early 1980s.

Life and career

Dekker was born on April 9, 1959, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and was raised in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. He attended the

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

in the mid-1980s. In 1983, film director

Steve Miner Stephen C. Miner (born June 18, 1951) is an American director of film and Television program, television, film producer, and a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is notable for his work in the horror genre, including '' ...

hired Dekker to write the script for '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3D'', a project which went unproduced. Dekker's first success came in 1985: a 15-page Twilight Zone-inspired script and an original story that was expanded into a full screenplay by writer Ethan Wiley for what would become the comedy horror film ''

.'' The film was nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award at the Fantasporto Film Festival, and earned its director

the Critics' Award at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival. The next year, Dekker made his directorial debut with '' Night of the Creeps'', the script for which was written in only a week. The film, an homage to B-movies of the 1950s and 60s, has since become a

. His next film ''

'' was co-written with his friend and long-time collaborator

. It is an homage to the Universal "monster cycle" of films produced between the early 1930s and mid-1950s. Like his previous film, it has since become a cult classic. Dekker subsequently wrote five episodes of the ''Tales from the Crypt'' television series, and directed one. He co-wrote the

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

''Ricochet'' and the spy comedy ''If Looks Could Kill''. His return to the director's chair came in 1992 when he directed the third installment in the ''RoboCop'' series, co-writing the screenplay with comic book writer Frank Miller. The film, which had its release delayed by a year due to the bankruptcy of

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

, received negative reviews from critics and audiences. Dekker has since gone on to accept blame for the film's negative reception. Dekker worked as a

script doctor A script doctor is a writer or playwright hired by a film, television, or theatre production company to rewrite an existing script or improve specific aspects of it, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, themes, and other elemen ...

, making uncredited contributions to films including ''

Titan A.E. ''Titan A.E.'' is a 2000 American animated post-apocalyptic science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Ba ...

'' and ''

Lethal Weapon 4 ''Lethal Weapon 4'' is a 1998 American buddy cop action film directed and produced by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li (in his international film debut). It is the fourth ins ...

''. He also wrote three episodes of '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' in the early 2000s. In 2015, after a lengthy hiatus, he returned to filmmaking by co-writing a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

, ''Edge'', for

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

, with Black. He co-wrote the 2018 film '' The Predator'' with Black, who also directed the film.

Filmography

Film

Uncredited works * '' Demolition Man'' (1993) * ''

''Fred Dekker
/ref> (1998) * ''

'' (2000) Unproduced works * '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3D'' (1983) * '' Shadow Company'' (1988) * '' Jonny Quest'' (1995)

Television

Awards

* 1988 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival Silver Raven Award: ''

'' (won)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dekker, Fred 1959 births Living people Film producers from California Film directors from San Francisco American horror film directors American people of Dutch descent