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Horror geeks and fanboys love Fred Dekker and his 1986 cult classic, Night of the Creeps. They mob the amiable Dekker at horror conventions. Last week, they rejoiced and then debated the 'Thrill me!' chills of Creeps when the movie made its DVD and Blu-ray debuts, in a Dekker-approved, restored director's cut with his original ending.
But cult popularity and good filmmaking skills are no guarantees. The 60-year-old, San Francisco-born Dekker cannot get a director's job in Hollywood.
"Will direct for food!" Dekker tells Sun Media, with a sly laugh, from Los Angeles. "So, if you know anybody in Canada who is looking for a filmmaker, I am available."
He is only half-kidding and has entertained notions of moving north, like American horrormeister George Romero. "I really like Toronto," Dekker says of Romero's destination. "I'm getting a little tired of L.A."
Fred Dekker's career is a cautionary tale. He grew up loving monster movies. He attended UCLA, majoring in English studies with other future screenwriters, including Shane Black. He contributed the story to House (1986), then wrote and directed both Night of the Creeps (1986) and The Monster Squad (1987). But RoboCop 3 (1993) was his death knell for directing.
"Hollywood is a very mercenary business," Dekker says of his fate. "If you make a really, really crappy movie that makes $300 million, they will be knocking down your door the day it comes out to do a sequel. If you make a really sincere, stylish little movie like this (Night of the Creeps) that doesn't make any money, they don't care.
"I'm not pointing fingers at anybody because this is just the way of the world. Unfortunately for the three films that I made, the one that did the best boxoffice worldwide was RoboCop 3. But it was so universally loathed that it really put my career in a tank. They other two films did nothing at the box office, when they came out, and they only really found their audience more recently."
Cult status means having to say you're sorry for boxoffice. But the fans who love Dekker's work love it with an unbridled passion. Set in 1986, after a 1959 B&W prologue, the delightfully lurid Night of the Creeps tells the story of a fateful prom night when alien slugs -- inspired by the creature bursting out of John Hurt's chest in Alien -- turn frat boys into bloodthirsty zombies.
"It's a smoothie!" Dekker says of his blending of genre elements, including mad science. "You have the blender and you put all the stuff into the smoothie. Instead of blueberries and bananas and milk, I put in zombies and space aliens and cute sorority girls."
Dekker provides a director's commentary on both the DVD and Blu-ray. Other extras include a cast commentary and strong making-of stuff. As for Dekker's future, he is working on a script for a Cliffhanger sequel. "I am very lucky that I have always been able to eke out of a living as a writer," Dekker says.
AND ANOTHER THING: Thinking about Dekker -- who has both the personality and the skills to succeed but not the opportunities -- made me think of the fate of current genre filmmakers whose films are not in the top 10 for boxoffice. Such as American director Paul Solet. His horror film Grace recently arrived on both DVD and Blu-ray, with strong extras including Solet's commentary. Absolutely terrifying and well-crafted, it is the story of a traumatized mother who wills her stillborn baby back to life -- with consequences.
Grace is an astonishing piece of work but is still outside the mainstream domain. And that begs the question: What happens to Solet's career, even with a film as good as Grace on his resume?
BRUCE.KIRKLAND@SUNMEDIA.CA