A criminal who became known as “the dating game killer.”
Rodney Alcala was a serial killer convicted in 1980 of killing eight women, including a 12-year-old girl.
His life, which is now dramatized in a Netflix film directed by Anna Kendricktook a turn when two years before being convicted he appeared on a television dating show, while committing his crimes.
The 1978 production, based on blind dates, was known as The Dating Game.
It is believed that Alcalá, who died in prison in 2021may have murdered many other women and girls.
In this note we tell you who he was, we offer you information about his legal case and we also tell you details of the new film Woman of the Hour, which premiered this Thursday.
Who was Rodney Alcala?
Rodney Alcalá was a serial killer and sex offender who was convicted of eight murders committed in New York, California and Wyoming between 1971 and 1979.
However, he is suspected of killing more than 100 women and girls.
Posing as a fashion photographer, Alcalá often addressed women with compliments and then asked them to allow him to take their photographs.
In 1980, it was sentenced to death in California for the murder of Robin Samsoe, a 12-year-old girl.
His sentence was later revoked by the California Supreme Court and was granted a new trial. He received the same sentence at the second trial in 1986, but this was also overturned in 2003.
In the following years, researchers forensic evidence discovered that They link Alcalá to other murders in the state.
At a retrial in 2010, he was found guilty of killing Samsoe and four other women between the ages of 18 and 32 between 1977 and 1979.
In 1994, while in prison, he wrote a book titled You, the Jury (“You, the jury”), in which he argued that he was innocent.
Alcalá was extradited to New York in 2012 after being accused of two other murders committed between 1971 and 1977. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in New York to 25 years to life in prison.
In 2016 he was accused of killing Christine Ruth Thornton in 1977, a woman investigators had identified in one of his photos.
Alcalá died of natural causes in 2021 at age 77 in a hospital near Corcoran State Prison in California.
The dating program
Alcalá became known as the “Dating Game Killer” due to his appearance on television while committing his crimes.
In September 1978, he participated in The Dating Gamean American blind dating television show.
The production showed a single woman asking questions to three potential couples who could be seen by the audience, but not by her.
The program concluded with the woman selecting one of the men she wanted to date, based on their answers.
Alcalá is believed to have been cast because he was tall, handsome and “charming,” and producers did not conduct a background check on him.
In the episode in which he appeared, Alcalá was chosen by Cheryl Bradshaw at the end of the show.
But Bradshaw later said she decided not to go ahead with the date after a conversation with him backstage during which she found him “creepy.”
The decision, in all likelihood, saved his life.
The original episode of The Dating Game with Bradshaw and Alcalá it does not exist in its entirety; only fragments are available online.
How is he presented in the new film?
The film begins in 1977 with Alcalá encouraging a woman named Sarah to reveal details of her personal life while taking photographs of her in a remote mountainous region of Wyoming.
Things take a sinister turn when he suddenly turns nasty and starts attacking her, setting the tone for the way he takes advantage of several of the women he meets for the rest of the film.
The film’s timeline takes jumps, each focusing on a different woman.
The murders themselves not shown on screen. Instead, the film focuses on Alcalá’s initial encounters with the women and the moments before the crimes.
A considerable part of the film is based on the day the episode of The Dating Game.
In addition to directing the film, Kendrick plays Bradshaw, the woman who appeared on the dating show alongside Alcalá.
Although based on real-life cases, the film takes some artistic licenses.
For example, Bradshaw goes against the dating show host’s wishes and goes off script and asks the singles his own questions, giving the film a more feminist angle than it had in reality. .
The date between Bradshaw and Alcalá is also an invention. In reality, they never actually went on a date, but the film imagines their visit to a bar and a subsequent altercation in the parking lot.
Who was Monique Hoyt?
One of Alcalá’s victims, Monique Hoyt, managed to escape after being attacked. His story is one of those presented in the film.
Hoyt, 15, was posing for the killer in February 1979 in a secluded mountain area when Alcala knocked her unconscious and sexually assaulted her.
When she regained consciousness, Hoyt realized she had been raped, but in an attempt to escape, she convinced Alcalá that she was not angry and that she wanted to continue a relationship with him.
The two returned to the car and continued on their way. When the killer stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom, Hoyt fled the car and raised the alarm.
The film shows the woman, called Amy in the production, taking refuge in a nearby restaurant until the police arrive and arrest Alcalá.
Although Hoyt escaped, Alcalá was actually released shortly after when his mother posted his bail.
What did Anna Kendrick say?
Initially, Anna Kendrick She was going to produce and star in the film, but later also acted as director. In press materials for the film, the 39-year-old actress said she knows it will be seen as a surprising choice by some.
Kendrick is best known for appearing in the film series Pitch Perfect and in dramatic comedy Up in the Airwhich earned him an Oscar nomination, in addition to his appearances in the “Twilight” films.
“I can understand why a movie that begins with an act of violence wouldn’t really seem to be to my taste,” he acknowledged.
“But I feel like I’ve had experiences that I can relate to with being with someone else and suddenly finding out that you’re with someone who’s not safe for you.”
Of the project he said: “I think the story itself is compelling because of the idea that this dangerous and violent man participated in a program like The Dating Gamewhere the goal is to choose a good guy, and he won. “It’s comically perverse.”
When asked about his attitude towards the depiction of violence he stated: “My approach was that things that are beautiful should be beautiful, and things that are horrible should be horrible.
“However, the violence in the film is rarely literal or explicit. “I wanted to get away from violence without disinfecting it,” he added.
Woman of the Hour HE premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but Kendrick and the cast were unable to attend or promote the film at the time due to ongoing strikes in Hollywood.
What have the critics said?
The film has received criticism largely positiveand some say that Kendrick promises as director.
“Kendrick’s image as an actress is not necessarily tied to dark and daring material, but as a director she shows a talent for staging Hitchcockian suspense along with her characteristic wit,” said IndieWire’s Katie Rife.
Patrice Witherspoon Screen Rant was less enthusiastic, suggesting that the film “is hampered by tonal imbalances and poor editing.”
But Benjamin Lee of Guardian He commented that Kendrick “is a compelling debut director, who captures the feel of a time and a series of places with ease.”
Lovia Gyarkye, from The Hollywood Reporter, concluded: “Despite the sometimes shaky execution of Woman of the Hourhis story is undeniably powerful.”
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