You can watch the extraordinary true crime tale starring Anna Kendrick on Netflix next month
You can hide all sorts behind a smile as this chilling picture of Rodney Alcala proves.
He managed to charm the socks off the entire studio audience during his infamous appearance on The Dating Game, as well as winning over bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw.
But behind Alcala’s toothy grin was a sinister secret, which has inspired a true crime film starring Anna Kendrick that is set to be released on Netflix on 18 October.
The chilling flick, titled Woman of the Hour, is set to delve into how Bradshaw cheated death after unknowingly arranging to go on a date with a serial killer – and the trailer just dropped for it today (17 September).
And in it, Costa Rican actor Daniel Zovatto, who will play Alcala, can be seen acing his attempt at recreating the murderer’s menacing smile which was made famous by The Dating Game.
Bradshaw headed on the popular US dating show back in September 1978 in the hopes of finding her perfect match.
She had the choice between three strapping blokes, but found herself being drawn towards ‘bachelor number one’.
The host had informed her the contestant was a ‘successful photographer’ and recreational skydiver, which seemed to leave the drama teacher quite impressed.
Rodney Alcala appeared on The Dating Game in 1978 (ABC)
So after being amused by a series of his weird jokes, Bradshaw chose to go on a date with him – without having a clue what terrifying things Alcala got up to in his spare time.
He subsequently became known as the ‘Dating Game Killer’ after his crimes were exposed the year after his appearance on the show.
Alcala, 77, had already killed at least five women on a bloodthirsty rampage through Southern California before he went looking for love on TV.
He had also served three years behind bars for horrifically beating and raping an eight-year-old girl, as well as another two year jail term for assaulting a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
On top of all that, Alcala had even earned a spot on the FBI’s Most Wanted list a few years earlier.
Cheryl Bradshaw cancelled her date with Acala after being creeped out by him (ABC)
Bradshaw would essentially have been signing her own death warrant if she proceeded with her plan to meet up for a tennis date the day after filming The Dating Game.
But thanks to some kind of divine intervention, she got cold feet after picking up on the ‘weird vibes’ she sensed from Alcala, as she told the Sydney Telegraph in 2012: “I started to feel ill. He was acting really creepy.”
The bachelorette contacted Ellen Metzger, a show producer, and informed her that she was ‘not comfortable’ proceeding with the date.
Criminal profiler Pat Brown previously told CNN that being turned down by Bradshaw would not have sat well with the killer, who went on to kill at least another three women after starring on The Dating Game.
“One wonders what that did in his mind,” he said. “That is something he would not take too well. [Psychopaths] don’t understand the rejection.
Daniel Zovatto will play Alcala in Woman of The Hour (Netflix)
“They think that something is wrong with that girl: ‘She played me. She played hard to get’.”
Alcala horrifically later killed 12-year-old Robin Samsoe in Los Angeles in 1979, as she cycled to a ballet class, which eventually led to his arrest.
A pair of the little girl’s earrings were found in a storage locker he owned in Seattle, which was brimming with other sick souvenirs from the murders he had commited.
He was sentenced to death for the killing and was connected to another ten homicides in the US – however, it is believed that the true total of his victims could be up to 130.
Alcala died of unspecified natural causes 42-years after his arrest for the murder of Robin on 24 July, 2021.
