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Warning! This post contains spoilers for Woman of the Hour.

After watching Woman of the Hour and its retelling of the Dating Game episode that featured Rodney Alcala, it is hard not to be curious about what happened to the two contestants who competed with Rodney Alcala on the show. Based on Rodney Alcala's true criminal history, Anna Kendrick's Woman of the Hour unfolds many different chapters from the serial killer's life. While primarily focusing on his strange appearance in The Dating Game, the movie also goes back and forth in time to walk through some of his most vicious murders.

Although every chapter in the movie's narrative is equally compelling, its portrayal of The Dating Game episode is particularly unsettling. It highlights how Rodney Alcala effectively hides his true tendencies behind a charming facade, which even helps him beat his two competitors on the show. His competitors are...

Spoiler Alert !!!This contains spoilers for Netflix's Woman of the Hour!

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut is sure to send chills down your spine and leave you with nightmares, especially if you’re a woman! Titled Woman of the Hour, this haunting film tells the chilling true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala.

Anna Kendrick in Woman of the Hour (2024) | Credits: Leah Gallo/Netflix

Kendrick has done an exceptional job of capturing the horror of it all. Here’s a closer look at Alcala’s terrifying tale and how Kendrick approached this intense project.

How Rodney Alcala Terrorized an Entire Decade!

The climax of Anna Kendrick‘s Woman of the Hour is a nail-biter that keeps you glued to the screen. We feel a rush of relief as teen runaway Amy manages to outsmart the serial killer Rodney Alcala played by Daniel Zovatto and bravely turns him in to the authorities.

Rodney Alcala was a notorious serial killer who terrorized the United States in the 1970s, leaving behind a trail of brutal crimes. Known as the Dating Game Killer due to his appearance on a popular game show, Alcala’s story is brought to life in Woman of the Hour, a Netflix film directed by and starring Anna Kendrick. This chilling movie explores the harrowing real-life events surrounding Alcala’s participation in The Dating Game and the crimes that made him infamous.

Alcala’s Appearance on The Dating Game A still from Woman of the Hour. | Netflix

Rodney Alcala’s appearance on The Dating Game in 1978 is central to the film’s narrative. In real life, Alcala was introduced to viewers as a “successful photographer” and won the competition, securing a date with bachelorette **Sheryl Bradshaw** (portrayed by Kendrick). However, Bradshaw quickly felt uneasy about Alcala and refused to go on the date,...

A matchmaking television show that hooks you up with a blind date may not sound like the ideal place to meet your serial killer, but it is kind of ironic. I mean, you don’t get to see a man’s true face in real life either, so one really knows what goes on behind that charming smile, right? The character of Sheryl, played by debut director Anna Kendrick herself, is based on the real-life person Cheryl Bradshaw. I am not sure why the writer or the director thought of changing the first letter of her name, but maybe they did it to give the character a distinctive touch. Touche. Coming back to our real-life person, Cheryl was a drama teacher from Phoenix, Arizona, who had come to LA to fulfill her dream to be an actor. But even though Cheryl didn’t become a popular movie star, she did...

One of the great things about the slasher sub-genre is the fact that it provides movies to watch for pretty much any holiday that comes along. For New Year’s Eve we have films like the original Terror Train, Bloody New Year, and the film we’re covering with the latest episode of the Real Slashers video series: 1980’s New Year’s Evil (watch it Here). To hear all about it, check out the video embedded above!

Directed by Emmett Alston, who crafted the story with screenwriter Leonard Neubauer, New Year’s Evil has the following synopsis: On New Year’s Eve, a famous TV punk-rock lady icon hosts a late hour countdown celebration of music and partying. All goes well, until she receives a strange sounding phone call. Lonely women wanting to celebrate the holiday become easy prey for a maniacal murdering misogynist whose New Year’s resolution is to...

Prepare for a chilling and captivating two-hour special event on 20/20 as it unravels the horrifying story of Rodney Alcala, infamously known as ‘The Dating Game Killer.’ Tune in on Friday, July 21 at 9:01-11:00 p.m. Edt on ABC as 20/20 presents an in-depth exploration of one of the most notorious serial killers of modern times.

The haunting saga begins in 1968 when Rodney Alcala lured a young girl outside the iconic Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood, marking the beginning of his reign of terror that spanned over a decade, involving cross-country attacks. Posing as a professional photographer, Alcala utilized his good looks and charm to entrap his unsuspecting victims. However, his most audacious move came in 1978 when he chillingly appeared as a contestant on the popular show “The Dating Game” and won.

Through gripping first-hand accounts from investigators, victims, eyewitnesses, and even Alcala’s court-appointed psychologist, 20/20 delves deep into...

Prepare for a shocking episode of ‘20/20′ as it delves into the horrifying story of Rodney Alcala, famously known as ‘The Dating Game Killer.’ Tune in on Friday, July 14 at 9:01-11:00 p.m. Edt on ABC as ’20/20′ presents an in-depth exploration of the sinister deeds and shocking revelations surrounding Alcala’s killing spree.

The episode titled ‘The Dating Game Killer‘ takes viewers on a journey back to 1968 when Alcala lured a young girl outside the iconic Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood, marking the beginning of his cross-country attacks that spanned over a decade. Posing as a professional photographer, Alcala used his good looks and charm to trap his victims, perpetrating heinous crimes that left a trail of devastation in his wake. However, what stands out as one of his most audacious moves is his chilling appearance as a contestant on the popular 1970s TV game show ‘The Dating Game’ – and he won.

Anna Kendrick is a woman of many talents — she's a great actor, a fantastic singer, a hilarious Twitter follow, a wonderful Barbie spokesperson, and now she can finally add "director" to her growing list of multi-hyphenates. The star of films like "A Simple Favor," "Pitch Perfect," "Up in the Air," and a flurry of teen films that people mock her for having starred in will be directing, starring in, and producing the true-crime thriller "The Dating Game," based on the real story of 1970s would-be bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw. The script comes from Ian McDonald, whose original draft "Sheryl & Rodney'' wound up on the prestigious unproduced list of screenplays, The Black List.

For those unaware of the story behind the film, Kendrick's Cheryl Bradshaw was a real-life contestant on "The Dating Game," who ultimately picked contestant number 1, a man by the name of Rodney Alcala. He seemed charming and handsome enough...

Rodney Alcala, the infamous serial killer whose spree of dozens of murders ended after he won on The Dating Game, is the focus of Friday’s two-hour episode of ABC’s 20/20. The show airs at 9 p.m. Et.

In this exclusive clip from the 20/20 special, the now-adult friend of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe — one of Alcala’s murder victims — who also helped provide a sketch of Samsoe’s killer recounts being shown The Dating Game episode, which a detective on the case randomly caught on TV soon after Alcala was named a suspect.