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

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

best known for his

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

horror comedy films ''

Night of the Creeps ''Night of the Creeps'' is a 1986 American science fiction horror comedy film written and directed by Fred Dekker in his feature directorial debut, starring Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, and Tom Atkins. The film is an earnest attempt at a B movi ...

'' and ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American black comedy horror film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black, who met as classmates at UCLA. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by TriSt ...

'' (written with

Shane Black Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American filmmaker and actor who has written such films as ''Lethal Weapon'', ''The Monster Squad'', ''The Last Boy Scout'', ''Last Action Hero'', and ''The Long Kiss Goodnight''. As an actor, Black is ...

). 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 condi ...

'' (1986) 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 ''RoboCop 3'' is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Fred Dekker and written by Dekker and Frank Miller. It is the sequel to the 1990 film ''RoboCop 2'' and the third entry in the ''RoboCop'' franchise. It stars Robert Bur ...

'' with

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

. 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 (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and was raised in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

. 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, 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 ''Friday the 13th Part ...

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 1986: a 15-page Twilight Zone inspired script & an original story that was expanded into a full screenplay by writer

Ethan Wiley Ethan Wiley is an American screenwriter, film producer, director and musician. Wiley wrote the screenplay for the 1986 film '' House'' and has written and directed several other horror films, including, '' House II: The Second Story'', '' C ...

for what would become the 1986 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 Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival (french: Festival international du film fantastique d'Avoriaz) was a film festival held in the French resort of Avoriaz between 1973 and 1993. It was the precursor to the current Gérardmer Inter ...

. That same year, Dekker made his directorial debut with ''

'', the script for which was written in only a week. The film, an homage to

B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

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 to 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 revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

''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

. The film, which had its release delayed by a year due to the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures, 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 science fiction film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore. Its title refers to the spacecraft ...

'' 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 insta ...

''. He also wrote three episodes of ''

Star Trek: Enterprise ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...

'' 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 States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

, ''Edge'', for

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

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

Filmography

Film

Story writer only * ''

'' (1986) * '' House II: The Second Story'' (1987) * ''

'' (1991) * '' If Looks Could Kill'' (1991) Uncredited works * '' Demolition Man'' (1993) * ''

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

'' (2000) Unproduced works * '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3D'' (1983) * ''

Shadow Company ''Shadow Company'' is a documentary directed by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque and narrated by Gerard Butler. It is an introduction to the mercenary and private military company industry, concentrating on the role the industry has been playing ...

'' (1988) * ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'' (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 Horror film directors American people of Dutch descent