Eric Red

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, as well as writing and directing Cohen and Tate. 2Biography 3Early life Red was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Nancy (née Pickhardt) and Cornelius Gerard Durdaller. He attended the AFI Conservatory and graduated in 1983. 3Screenwriter career The first film written by Red was Gunmen's Blues, a short he produced and directed while a student at the AFI Conservatory. 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.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. From the '80s through the 00s, his subsequent produced screenplays were "Near Dark," "Cohen and Tate," Blue Steel," "Body Parts," "The Last Outlaw," "Undertow," "Bad Moon" and "100 Feet." 3Director career The first feature film directed by Red was "Cohen and Tate" in 1987. He subsequently directed the films, "Body Parts (1990)," "Undertow (1995)," "Bad Moon (1996)" and "100 Feet (2008)." 3Novelist career Eric Red published his first novel, Don't Stand So Close, in 2011. His six subsequent published novels are "The Guns of Santa Sangre," "The Wolves of El Diablo," "It Waits Below," "Noose," "Hanging Fire" and "White Knuckle." 3Fatal car crash Red was found to be at fault in a car accident that caused two deaths after his truck crashed after he, allegedly, lost consciousness into a crowded bar in Los Angeles on May 31, 2000. After the accident, Red apparently exited his vehicle, and attempted suicide by slitting his own throat with a piece of broken glas