Movie role too scary for Edmonton actor

Even when he was duct-taped to a chair in a man's garage, Chris Heward never felt his life was in danger.

Yet weeks later, when the local actor learned the scene he was doing would be part of a police investigation into the death of another man, his outlook on the situation changed drastically.

"To think back that I met someone on the internet, showed up to their garage let them duct tape me to a chair with swords swinging around and stun batons and everything else, the fear factor just goes up in my mind I can't believe the kind of danger I put myself in," he said.

Heward was hired as an actor to play the role of a murder victim in Edmonton filmmaker Mark Twitchell's short film House of Cards.

Heward said he found out about the casting for House of Cards on a casting website. It would be a two-day shoot starting on Sept. 27.

His character, Roger, would be lured to a garage by a killer parading himself as a woman on an internet dating site. Once Roger went to the garage, the movie would take a terrifying turn.

In his character's final scene, Heward says he was taped to the "kill chair" and many samurai swords and a stun baton were used to kill his character.

Parts of couch were used as a dummy when the blades sliced into his character. A small amount of fake blood was allegedly used to drip from the swords.

"He is waking up from being stunned, from the stun baton, and looking around trying to assess his situation," he said. "The killer comes out of the darkness with the mask on."

About a month after shooting the scene, police would arrest the filmmaker for the death of Johnny Altinger.

Police allege Twitchell followed his own film script when he killed Altinger - luring the 38-year-old man to his garage and then brutally slaying him.

Twitchell, 29, was arrested by police on Oct. 31 for Altinger's death. He was charged with first-degree murder.

Altinger mysteriously vanished on Oct. 10 after telling friends he had met a woman online and was going to meet her in person at a semi-detached garage on Edmonton's far south side. His body has not been found.

A black and gold hockey mask was seized as evidence in his death.

Heward said he was later taken in for questioning by Edmonton police.

Many of their questions, he said, focused on his death scene -- such as how much blood was on the walls during the filming and whether there were any extra body parts used as props in the background.

"I could feel where it was going and then (the detective) just came right out and said it, "What do you know about snuff films?" he said.

Heward said while he's stunned the quiet filmmaker could be accused of such a crime, he said he has some pertinent questions for the director.

"I really want to know, what the hell was this," he said. "Was it just a film, was this real? Or was it a rehearsal?"

With files from CTV Edmonton's Bill Fortier