This article contains mentions of murder, rape and sexual assault.
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This article contains spoilers for The Woman of the Hour.
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Netflix Woman of the hour, is based on real-life serial killer Rodney Alcalá (Daniel Zovatto), but leaves out some details. The film is based on Alcalá’s real-life appearance on the popular 1970s television show. The dating game searching for his next victim in 1978, which led to Rodney Alcalá finally being captured. This appearance has widely dubbed Alcalá “The Dating Game Killer” in the years since his imprisonment for his crimes. woman of the hour touches on a series of Alcalá’s later crimes related to his appearance in the dating gamebut ultimately focuses on how one woman’s intuition saved her life.
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In woman of the hourAnna Kendrick plays Cheryl Bradshaw, the real-life host of The dating game That day, and after choosing Alcalá from her list of singles, she finally told the producers that she felt something strange about Alcalá and that she would not go out with him. However, the film does not address Alcalá’s initial arrest, sex offender registration, or criminal trial.
6 The Tali Shapiro case
The case marked the first documented assault on Alcalá
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The real Alcalá narrowly fled the scene after the 1968 beating and sexual assault of 8-year-old Tali Shapiro. Shapiro only survived because a neighbor called police to the scene upon seeing Alcalá luring the boy into his home (via ABC 2020). Shapiro was lured to Alcalá’s house with the lie that he knew his parents. Shapiro’s family then resided at the historic Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
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When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that young Shapiro had been brutally beaten with a steel bar. Shaprio remained in a coma for 32 days and ultimately survived the attack. Following his attack on Shapiro, Alcalá attacked flight attendant Cornelia Crilley, 23, in New York City in 1971. Crilley was strangled with a pair of stockings, as shown in woman of the hour. Crilley’s murder remained unsolved until 2011 due to a lack of witnesses, as Alcalá had helped her move furniture into her empty apartment (via New York Post).
Woman of the moment: what happened to the real Amy, Monique Hoyt
Since Amy from Woman of the Hour is based on a real person, Monique Hoyt, many viewers may be curious to know what happened to her after the events of the film.
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After the FBI added Alcalá to its most wanted list, campers identified him at the girls’ arts camp he worked at in New Hampshire. Shaprio’s family had already moved to Mexico and refused to allow him to testify. However, since Shaprio’s case was the only one in which there were witnesses to an attempted murder, Alcalá was only charged with child abuse and served two years in prison until 1974. He then kidnapped, assaulted, and provided marijuana to another child. 13 years old. girl upon his release, resulting in another two years in prison, and he was released in 1976 (via OC Weekly).
5 Alcalá was included in the FBI’s most wanted list
The list led to his first arrest
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Alcalá was on the FBI’s most wanted list several years before his appearance in The dating game. Following Crilley’s murder, Alcalá fled New York City for New Hampshire, where he worked as a counselor at an arts camp for girls under the alias John Berger. Two campers identified Alcalá based on his photo on an FBI poster, leading to his initial arrest for child abuse (via PEOPLE).
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This first arrest led Alcalá to register as a sex offender, a repeat offense he would continue to commit. Following his stay in prison after New Hampshire, Alcalá murdered Ellen Jane Hover, the 23-year-old daughter of nightclub owner Herman Hover and goddaughter of singers and actors Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr (via Inside edition). He lured her under his fake name of John Berger, inviting her to be photographed by the Hudson River. His remains were found near the John D. Rockefeller Estate a year later (via The New York Times).
4 He Was Interrogated As The Hillside Strangler
The stranglers were later revealed to be two other killers.
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After Hover’s disappearance, Alcalá fled back to California, where he found work as a typesetter in Los Angeles Times. In 1978, he was interviewed by police who were part of the Hillside Strangler task force, who ultimately concluded that he was not the strangler. He was arrested once again for possession of marijuana (via LA Weekly). This event is referred to in woman of the houralthough it is not explained why Alcalá was interviewed in the first place.
Alcala murdered Jill Terry Barcomb of Oneida, New York, in Los Angeles in 1977. The 18-year-old had been raped, beaten, and tied with ropes. His body was abandoned on a dirt road near Mullholland Drive. This murder was initially believed to be linked to the Hillside Stranglers, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono (via LA Weekly). Neither of them confessed to the murder and was later linked to Alcalá.
3 Alcalá graduated from UCLA and had an above average IQ
The killer later studied at New York University
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While woman of the hour If it mentions that Alcalá studied with Roman Polanski at New York University, the film does not include Alcalá’s previous educational journey. Alcalá grew up middle class in Monterey Park and graduated from Cantwell High School in 1961, where he ran track and was a member of the yearbook committee. Alcalá enlisted in the US Army at age 17, where it was revealed that he had an IQ of 135, almost brilliant.
He was later discharged from the military for medical reasons. Alcalá earned a bachelor’s degree from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 1968. His intelligence and education are partly what allowed Alcalá to evade authorities for so long, as his high intelligence, along with several mental illnesses . led to their elaborate plots (via Pasadena Star News). woman of the hour The story continues several years later, shortly after finishing his studies at New York University, when he commits Crilley’s murder and more.
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2 Alcalá’s party continued after the assault on Monique Hoyt
Robin Samsoe’s murder is what finally got him convicted
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woman of the hour shows a teenage runaway named Amy (Autumn Best) who narrowly escapes from Alcala and calls the police, leading to her arrest. The real Amy was a woman named Monique Hoyt, who actually survived his attack, but was far from Alcalá’s last victim in 1979. A text epilogue explains that Amy testified in court against him. In reality, Monique’s case was not the final nail in the coffin, as Alcalá’s mother posted his bail following his arrest (via KABC).
Months later, Alcala killed 21-year-old Jill Marie Parentaeu in her Burbank apartment. She was raped and beaten to death. Alcalá was incriminated by blood samples years later, when he cut himself escaping through a window. Even so, Alcalá managed to escape, until days later he met his last victim: Robin Christin Samsoe.
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Samsoe was a 12-year-old girl from Huntington Beach, California, who had biked home from ballet class. Samsoe’s friends later told police that Alcala approached the group of girls on the beach and asked to photograph them. He then kidnapped, raped, strangled and stabbed Samsoe. His body was found on the side of Santa Anita Canyon Road. Alcalá’s parole officer recognized him from police sketches, and this became his final arrest, ending a decade-long killing spree (via Los Angeles Times).
1 Alcalá had a complex trial
He was originally sentenced to death
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Alcalá was originally tried in 1980 in California and sentenced to death. This conviction was later overturned after jurors revealed that they were not informed of his status on the sex offender registry. He was sentenced to death a second time, but it was later overturned after Alcalá filed a lawsuit. habeas corpus request. In 2003, with updated technology, authorities placed Alcalá at the scene of more crimes than initially anticipated, leading to his indictment for five more murders in California. He attempted to defend himself in court in 2010, earning him a third death sentence (via CBS News).
Alcalá narrowly escaped that death sentence after he was extradited to New York in 2012 to answer for more crimes, since New York state banned the death penalty in 2007. As a result, he was sentenced to between 25 years and life sentence when he returned to prison in California. The killer died of natural causes at a Kings County hospital in 2021.
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His extensive portfolio of nude and gruesome photos continues to be investigated by authorities looking for possible victims of unsolved cases. It is now estimated that Alcalá could have up to 130 victims (via AP). This test is now displayed on Woman of the hour, making the real case that much more horrible.
Sources: ABC 2020, PEOPLE, Inside Edition, The New York Times, OC Weekly, LA Weekly, Pasadena Star News, The Los Angeles Times, CBS News, AP
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6/10 12 6.3/10 The Woman of the Hour CrimeDramaMysterySuspense
Woman of the Hour is a biographical thriller directed by Anna Kendrick, who also stars in the film. The film tells the infamous real-life story of Cheryl Bradshaw’s appearance on the 1978 edition of The Dating Game, where one of the contestants, Rodney Alcalá, would later be revealed to be a notorious serial killer. The film delves into the chilling intersection between entertainment and true crime.
Director Anna Kendrick Release Date September 26, 2023 Studio(s) AGC Studios, Vertigo Entertainment, BoulderLight Pictures Distributors Netflix Writers Ian MacAllister McDonald Cast Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Autumn Best, Andy Thompson, David Beairsto, Tighe Gill, Bonnie Hay , Thomas Strumpski, Nicolette Robinson, Kathryn Gallagher, Kelley Jakle, Tony Hale Character(s) Cheryl Bradshaw, Rodney Alcala, Amy, Bob, Rodney’s Boss, Single, Waiter, Laundromat Owner Duration 94 minutes Main Genre Crime Expand