How Serial Killer Rodney Alcala — Now Feared to Have Notched Up 130 Victims — Won U.S. Dating Game Show… As Netflix Drama 'Woman Of the Hour' About His Crimes Becomes a Hit
Fears of 130 victims for Rodney Alcala as Netflix about crimes is a success.
Oct. 31 2024, Published 8:26 a.m. ET
A Netflix film dramatizing the true story of a serial killer who appeared on a television dating show in the midst of his crimes is bringing the murder spree of evil Rodney Alcala to a huge new audience.
The show, called Woman of the Hour and directed by Anna Kendrick, depicts the crimes of Rodney Alcala, who became known as the Dating Game Killer, and it is becoming a smash hit for the streaming site.
A new Netflix film dramatizing the true story of a serial killer who appeared on a TV dating show in the midst of his crimes is bringing the murder spree of evil Rodney Alcala to a huge new audience.
The true number of his victims will never be known but the death toll could be as high as 130, RadarOnline has learned.
The serial killer appeared as a bachelor on the blind date-style show in 1978, two years before he was convicted of the murder of a 12-year-old girl.
He was eventually found guilty of eight murders in total, however, it's thought he killed many more women and girls. Alcala died in prison in 2021 aged 77.
One survivor left fighting for her life aged eight after she was raped and beaten by Alcala, said this week: "The thing that angers me is that the court system kept giving him a get-out-of-jail-free card."
‘Woman of the Hour,’ directed by Anna Kendrick, depicts the crimes of Rodney Alcala, who became known as 'The Dating Game Killer'.
Another, who was 16 when she was subjected to a brutal assault that was dismissed by police, recalled: "He was like a raging, ripping animal. I thought I was going to die.''
Those who encountered Alcala on The Dating Game said he made an alarming first impression.
"He was creepy, really creepy, and I instantly disliked him because he had this attitude of being superior to us," actor and director Jed Mills said.
Now 83, he appeared on screen next to Alcala as a contestant.
Those who encountered Alcala on The Dating Game said he made an alarming first impression.
Alcala was a serial killer and sex offender who was found guilty of eight murders across New York, California, and Wyoming between 1971 and 1979.
However, he is suspected of killing far more.
Posing as a fashion photographer, Alcala often targeted women by complimenting them and then asking to take pictures of them.
4: Actor and director Jed Mills described Rodney Alcala as ‘creepy, really creepy, and I instantly disliked him because he had this attitude of being superior to us.
In 1980, Alcala was sentenced to death in California for the murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.
His sentence was later overturned by the California Supreme Court and he was granted a new trial. He received the same penalty in the second trial in 1986, but that too was overturned in 2003.
In subsequent years, investigators discovered forensic evidence linking Alcala to other California murders.
At a new trial in 2010, he was found guilty of killing Samsoe as well as four other women aged between 18 and 32 in the years between 1977 and 1979.
Rodney Alcala was said to be behaving strangely, even in the green room before we went on air.
In 1994, while in custody, Alcala wrote a book titled You, the Jury, in which he argued he was innocent.
In 2012, Alcala was extradited to New York after he was charged with two further murders from 1971 and 1977. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in New York to 25 years to life when he appeared in court.
Alcala reportedly often targeted women by complimenting them and then asking to take pictures of them.
In 2016 he was charged with the 1977 murder of Christine Ruth Thornton, a woman who investigators had identified in one of his photos.
Alcala became retrospectively known as the Dating Game Killer because of his television appearance in the midst of his killings.
In September 1978, Alcala had taken part in The Dating Game, a US TV show similar in format to the UK's Blind Date. The show saw a single woman ask questions to three potential partners who could be seen by the audience, but not by her.
The show would conclude with the woman selecting one of the men to date, based on their answers.
Rodney In 1980, Alcala was sentenced to death in California for the murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.
It's thought Alcala was selected because, he was tall, handsome and charming, and producers did not conduct a background check.
In the episode he appeared in, Alcala was chosen by Cheryl Bradshaw at the end of the show.
But Bradshaw later said she decided not to proceed with the date after a conversation with him backstage during which she thought he was "creepy". The decision likely saved her life.
Woman of the Hour opens in 1977 with Alcala encouraging a woman named Sarah to reveal details of her personal life as he photographs her in a remote mountain region of Wyoming.
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At a new 2010 trial, Rodney Alcala was found guilty of killing Samsoe as well as four other women aged between 18 and 32 in the years between 1977 and 1979.
Things take a sinister turn when Alcala suddenly turns nasty and begins to attack her, setting the tone for the way he preys on several of the women he encounters for the rest of the film.
The film's timeline jumps around, as the viewer follows a few different strands which each focus on a different woman.
The murders themselves are not shown on screen. Instead, the film focuses on Alcala's initial encounters with the women and the moments leading up to the killings.
A sizeable portion of the movie is taken up with the day the episode of The Dating Game was filmed.
In 2012, Rodney Alcala was extradited to New York after he was charged with two further murders from 1971 and 1977.
As well as directing the film, Kendrick plays Bradshaw – the woman who appeared on the dating show alongside Alcala, played by Daniel Zovatto.
Although based on real-life cases, the film takes some artistic license. For instance, Bradshaw is seen going against the dating show presenter's wishes by going off-script and asking the bachelor her own questions, giving the film a more feminist angle than was the case in reality.
The date between Bradshaw and Alcala is also an invention. In reality, they never made it as far as a date, but the film imagines their trip to a bar and a subsequent altercation in the car park.
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