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The Real Rodney Alcala Story Was More Gruesome Than Woman of the Hour Lets On
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut relives a chilling moment in true crime history but rushes past its gruesome backstory.
Woman of the Hour acknowledges in a postscript that survivors and other private citizens had reported Alcala to law enforcement for a decade, but this after-the-fact treatment almost downplays the sheer volume of his previous crimes. Although the film portrays Bradshaw as a rebel who went off-script and held her bachelors’ feet to the fire, the actual Dating Game episode unfolded with the usual suggestive, slightly sleazy banter. That, too, makes it into the film, although Monique has been renamed “Amy.” Alcala attacked his last known victim, Robin Samsoe, months later in June 1979; in 1980, he received a death sentence for her kidnapping and murder.
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