Tag Archives: Mark Twitchell

‘Dexter’ star finds Twitchell case ‘horrifying’

MELBOURNE — It is quite refreshing to see actor Michael C. Hall suddenly open up for the first time about the Mark Twitchell “Dexter Killer” case.

For years, US and Canadian media outlets (myself included as the journalist and author researching this case for The Devil’s Cinema) have tried to get more official comment from those involved in the Dexter series.

Requests went unanswered. And in at least one instance, an ABC 20/20 interview was reported to be granted and then cancelled at the last minute.

But now Michael C. Hall, the actor who portrays the fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan, has told CBC Radio’s Jian Ghomeshi about what it’s like having a killer inspired by Dexter as part of the show’s continuing impact on pop culture:

“All I can say to that is, it’s horrifying to entertain the notion that something you did inspired that. I immediately found myself saying, ‘Well, you know, he would have found something else to inspire him,’ but I don’t know.

“To be perfectly honest, it’s a troubling thing to consider.”

He said the case won’t make him think about quitting the show, and he hoped people saw the series as being more good than bad:

“I don’t think it is a primer on serial killing or it advocates the lifestyle.

“I would hope that people’s appreciation was more than some sort of fetishization with the kill scenes. …

“I wouldn’t stop making ‘Dexter’ because someone was fascinated by it only in that way. I try to tell myself that their fixated nature would have done it one way or the other.

“But it seems that ‘Dexter’ had something to do with it. It’s horrifying.”

Hall’s responses have also been picked up by major media outlets.

Personally, I can only imagine how distressing it must have been to work for years on creating or portraying a complicated character only to have Twitchell transform it into something so sinister, forcing your work to forever be associated with a murder. Continue reading →

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The Question of Mark Twitchell …

MELBOURNE — One of the best questions from the audience at my Melbourne talk on The Devil’s Cinema and the “Dexter Killer” case involved my direct contact with Mark Twitchell.

“How did your interaction with him change the scope of your book, and how would the book have been different without his participation?” one reader asked.

I think this question strikes at the very core of what I was hoping to achieve: a narrative that peered deep into the minds of everyone involved.

Continue reading →

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One Night at the Devil’s Cinema

MELBOURNE — I’ve often been asked if there will ever be a movie made about the “Dexter Killer” case and its main subject, Mark Twitchell.

I do find this question quite fascinating.

The story is essentially about a series of novels that becomes a TV show, that inspired a filmmaker’s horror movie script, which later became reality — and was then all told in The Devil’s Cinema from the point-of-view of the detectives, the victims and the killer.

So should there be a movie about this whole book-TV-film-murder-book scenario? What a hall of mirrors!

Hmmm. Tough question. But I do know there is interest in such an idea.

Those who have read the book already know how Errol Morris had links to the case, and how the killer himself had come up with his own fantasy casting ideas (he once told me I’m supposed to be played by Edward Norton).

But truthfully, I personally haven’t given it much thought.

I’m having my first book event here in Melbourne in just over a week, however, and I may just talk about such a possible film project in more detail.

So if you’re in the city, come on down to Readings Hawthorn on Monday, Sept. 24th and feel free to ask anything.

I’ll try my best to answer.

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