Eric Red
| Eric Red | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Eric Joseph Durdaller February 16, 1961 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, film director |
Eric Red (born Eric Joseph Durdaller; February 16, 1961) is an American screenwriter and director, best known for writing the horror films The Hitcher and Near Dark,[1] as well as writing and directing Cohen and Tate.
Biography
Early life
Red was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Nancy (née Pickhardt) and Cornelius Gerard Durdaller.[2] He attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated in 1983.
Writing career
The first film written by Red was Gunmen's Blues, a short he produced and directed while a student at the AFI Conservatory.[3] He went broke trying to get national distribution for the film and had to drive a cab in New York City for a year to recoup.[4]
His AFI thesis script, The Hitcher, was produced in 1986. A major studio remake of The Hitcher was released in 2007 with Red as a consultant.[5] He wrote the original script to Lost Boys: The Tribe[6] and narrated the film at the 2010 Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles.[7]
Eric Red published his first novel, Don't Stand So Close, in 2011.
Fatal car crash
Red was found to be at fault in a car accident that caused two deaths after he drove his truck into a crowded bar in Los Angeles on May 31, 2000. After the accident, Red apparently exited his vehicle, and attempted suicide by slit his own throat with a piece of broken glass.[8] Red survived the incident and was taken to the hospital under an alias and released weeks later. No criminal charges were brought, but a jury in a civil suit found that he had acted intentionally. The suit, which awarded over a million dollars to the families of the two men killed in the accident, was appealed to state and federal courts, which confirmed the original jury finding.[9]
Filmography
- Gunmen's Blues, writer/director (1981)
- The Hitcher, writer (1986)
- Telephone, writer/director (1986)
- Near Dark, writer (1987)
- Cohen and Tate, writer/director (1989)
- Blue Steel, writer (1989)
- Body Parts, writer/director (1991)
- The Last Outlaw, writer (1993)
- Bad Moon, writer/director (1996)
- Undertow, writer/director (1996)
- 100 Feet, writer/director (2008)
- Night of the Wild, director (TV movie, 2015)
References
- ↑ "Eric Red". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ↑ "Eric Red Biography". filmreference.com. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
- ↑ staff (March 30, 2001). "Interview with Eric Red". Buried.com. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ↑ "Eric Red Biography". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ↑ EyeForFilm.co.uk -Interview with Eric Red about 100 Feet and Nightlife
- ↑ "Check out Eric Red's Original Lost Boys Prequel Script".
- ↑ "Screamfest Hosts a Screening of The Hitcher in LA this Wednesday with Writer and Director".
- ↑ Permanent (advert free) memorial site with mapping and details of road accidents Roadside Markers
- ↑ LA Weekly story: Death Race 2000, by Paul Cullum 01-13-2006, LA Weekly
External links
- Eric Red at the Internet Movie Database