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Fred Dekker (born April 9, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director best known for his Cult film Comedy horror Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad (written with Shane Black). He contributed the story ideas for House (1985) and Ricochet (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.
In 1983, film director Steve Miner hired Dekker to write the script for , 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 House. The film was nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award at the Fantasporto, and earned its director Steve Miner 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 movie of the 1950s and 60s, has since become a cult classic.
His next film The Monster Squad was co-written with his friend and long-time collaborator Shane Black. 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 Ricochet and the Spy film 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, 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, making uncredited contributions to films including Titan A.E. and Lethal Weapon 4. He also wrote three episodes of in the early 2000s. In 2015, after a lengthy hiatus, he returned to filmmaking by co-writing a television pilot, Edge, for Amazon Studios, with Black. He co-wrote the 2018 film The Predator with Black, who also directed the film.
| 1985 | House | ||
| 1986 | Night of the Creeps | ||
| 1987 | The Monster Squad | ||
| 1991 | Ricochet | ||
| If Looks Could Kill | |||
| 1993 | RoboCop 3 | ||
| 2018 | The Predator |
Uncredited works
Unproduced works
| 1989–92 | Tales from the Crypt | Wrote 4 episodes Directed episode "The Thing From the Grave" | ||
| 2001–02 | Also consulting producer Wrote 3 episodes | |||
| 2015 | Edge | TV movie |
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