An Edmonton filmmaker, who is accused of acting out a gruesome horror film script, did not appear in court Monday as scheduled.

Mark Andrew Twitchell, 29, will instead appear in provincial court Wednesday to face first-degree murder charges.

Twitchell was arrested by police on Oct. 31 in connection with the death of Johnny Altinger.

Police believe Altinger, a 38-year-old oil industry worker originally from White Rock, B.C., was killed roughly three weeks ago.

Police accuse the independent film producer of acting out his own film-script storyline, in which a psychotic killer masquerades as a woman on a dating website, lures a male victim to a darkened garage and then beheads him in cold blood.

"The movie was about luring a male from a dating internet site and basically killing the male in the garage and chopping up his body parts and getting rid of the body," Edmonton police Det. Mark Anstey said on Sunday.

Anstey said the movie script, which was seized by police, includes scenes where the killer duct tapes his victim to a chair to get his banking information and email passwords before putting him to death.

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.

Twitchell, police claim, was using the garage as a small movie studio and had recently shot a movie called "House of Cards" there.

Not long after Altinger went missing, friends received a strange email from his account which said: "I've met an extraordinary woman named Jen who has offered to take me on a nice, long tropical vacation. We'll be staying in her winter home in Costa Rica."

The email added that Altinger would be gone until December, but friends said they became suspicious right away.

"If he meets a girl on the online he'll chat with her and get to know her and stuff. I didn't think he'd be that naïve," friend Marie Laugeson told CTV News Edmonton.

While Altinger's body has not been found, Anstey said the investigation by Edmonton police has produced "enough evidence" to determine that he is deceased.

More strange twists

Meanwhile, police say another man was lured to the same garage on Oct. 3, also intending to meet with a woman he had met online.

This second man was allegedly attacked by a man wearing a hockey mask, but was able to escape.

Two neighbours said they spotted a man running away from the garage that night, fleeing another man who was wearing a black and gold hockey mask.

Police seized a black and gold mask from Twitchell's residence over the weekend.

Police say they have not yet had the chance to interview the man.

Twitchell's company is called Xpress Entertainment and previously made a unauthorized Star Wars fan movie called "Secrets of the Rebellion," which he shot at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology on a $60,000 budget.

Alberta Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett told CTV.ca that Twitchell did not receive grants from the Alberta Film Development Fund, nor did he receive any funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

"He's not a member of the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association," Blackett said. "He's an independent film-maker."

Police searches

Police launched a series of searches on Oct. 19 that included the garage, a home Twitchell shared with his wife, his personal vehicle and the vehicle owned by Altinger.

CTV News Edmonton has also learned that a stun gun purchased online was recently shipped to Twitchell's home. Neighbours said police spent hours searching Twitchell's residence, and added that they were shocked to hear of the allegations

"He was friendly and very polite and a very driven young man," said neighbour Chris Durham.

None of the allegations against Twittchell have been proven in court.