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Magnotta inspired by slasher flick?

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MONTREAL — Derek MacKinnon played a serial killer who cut a young victim to pieces in the 1980 film Terror Train, and now he wonders if his former downstairs neighbour, Luka Magnotta, made life imitate art.

The 56-year-old actor told QMI Agency that the similarities between his film and Magnotta's alleged crimes are too close to be a coincidence.

"(My character) killed 11 people, my appearance was always changing and I dismembered a victim," MacKinnon said of his character in the film, shot in Montreal 32 years ago.

"The similarity is pretty significant."

MacKinnon played Kenny Hampson, a bloodthirsty and schizophrenic killer who targets college kids on a moving train during a New Year's Eve party

The film by Canadian director Roger Spottiswoode also featured Jamie Lee Curtis and David Copperfield.

Magnotta, 29, was the subject of an international manhunt after a janitor found the headless torso of Jun Lin in a suitcase outside a west-end apartment building last week. He was arrested Monday in Berlin.

MacKinnon says he was the only resident of the apartment building who regularly spoke with Magnotta, whom he described as quiet and well-kept. The two occasionally chatted about the film industry.

"I knew he had acted in porno films," MacKinnon said. "Besides, everyone on the block knew. He was nicknamed 'the porn star.'"

He said Magnotta was cold at first but soon warmed up once he learned about MacKinnon's past.

"I'm sure he went to see who I was on the Internet since a few days later he asked me for advice about how to quit the porn industry and get roles in real productions," MacKinnon said"

MacKinnon hasn't slept much since Lin's remains were found and he wonders if he could have been the victim had things turned out differently.

"The night it happened, Magnotta had invited me to spend the evening with him to talk more about film," the actor recalled. "I was busy, so I turned him down."

MacKinnon bumped into Magnotta one final time on the day after the murder while the suspect was preparing to leave.

"He had no luggage and wore a red wig," MacKinnon said. "The day before, his hair was very black. A real chameleon."

 

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