Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)

Directed by: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky

Stars: Jessie Misskelley Jr, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, John Mark Byers and Terry Hobbs

Being that this is the final film of the Paradise Lost trilogy, it feels bittersweet. I have watched the West Memphis Three started out as teenagers who are now in their mid-30s. It was heartbreaking to me that these three innocent men are still behind bars, even though the original judge that presiding over their trailer, David Burnett have denied their appeals numerous times.

The movie goes back to the side of the three men saying that they are innocent, even though they went down a similar path with Revelations as accusing another stepfather of the murdered boys saying that he might be involved, Terry Hobbs. I did not want to get into what was discussed, but it might be possible that he could have done it.

This film showed the new evidence that was not available back in 1994 when the trials were going on. there was evidence that showed the Byers was not mutilated by a knife, but by a wild animal that found the bodies. New DNA evidence showed that a hair belonging to Terry Hobbs was on the shoelaces that was found of the boys. None of the DNA from the WM3 was found on the victims.

The one person that was vocal about making the WM3 die is now stomping for their release, John Mark Byers. he is adamant that the WM3 should be released.

You would think that the new evidence that was introduced would grant the men a new trial, but it doesn't. They have to go into huge hurdles in order to get their convictions overturned. Luck was on their side as Burnett was not assigned to their case.

I won't tell you what happens at the end, but I felt that the WM3 have gotten a raw deal. I felt duped. Really? It reinforces the fact that the justice system is broken. This is it on the screen. Shown in its full un-glory. When I finished watching the film, I was aggravated. These three innocent men have gotten a raw deal. Their youth was taken away from them and the state of Arkansas took a huge shit on them. This makes me question, how could take have happened? It makes me question the validity of the judicial system as it is today.

My Rating:

Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000)

Directed by Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky

Stars: Jessie Misskelly Jr, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, John Mark Byers, Kathy Bakken, Burk Sauls, Brent Turvey

After the events of the first film, the story of the West Memphis Three has made international news. The way that the first film unfolds it is revealed that the boys did not receive a fair trail when they were convicted of murdering Chris Byers, Stevie Branch and Michael Moore in 1993.

A group has formed to free the three who are now in the their twenties lead by Burk Sauls who has gathered people from across the nation in order to stomp for the cause of freeing them.

This movie does not have the same impartiality as the first film. It seems to take a very pointed look at the stepfather of one of the victims named John Mark Byers. He is a man that has very heated threates against the WM3. he is shown to have has a violent past. There was the mystery behind his wife's death. Damien Echols himself pointed the finger at Byers saying that he was the one who killed those boys.

There were experts for the defense that were not used during the first that dissemable the porsectuiong notions that the boys were killed in a different place and they bodies were dumped in the creek bed that faithful May day. An expert named Brent Turvey was shown the crime scene photo that suggested that one of the boys has a bite mark on his face that did not match anybody of the convicted men.

During the course of the film, it was suggested that the WMPD have covered up potential evidence that would have exonerated the teens, but either it was destroyed or simply lost.

The major misstep with this movie was the pointed way that the filmmakers accused John Mark Byers as the  killer without any evidence of his guilt or innocence. After a while, I had grown tired of looking at Byers face all the time if he was burning the graves of the killers with gasoline, him pulling out his dentures or his constant presence at the numerous appeals that the men have filed. It grew tiresome.

My Rating:

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hills

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hills (1996)

Directed by Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky

Stars: Jesse Misskelley, Jr, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols

I heard about this movie from Tassoula from the Cinebanter podcast when they recently had a discussion about the now trilogy series of documentaries from HBO films. It was shown on VOD over the weekend and I had to see them.

The first movie tells the story of three outcasts from West Memphis, Arkansas that are accused of committing the murders of three 8-year-old boys in May 1993. Directors Berlinger and Sinofsky follow the trails of the accused.

First, it was Jessie Misskelley Jr that tried first, because of a coerced confession that would admitted into evidence that said that Echols, Baldwin and himself committed the murders. Even though, it seems that the Jessie's story didn't fit the timeline of when the murders occurred. The subsequent trails of the three teenagers seemed to be a media circus.

It was a modern day witch hunt. Accusing these three boys of a crime that they may not have commit. I understood the families of the murder victims when they said that they want the accused burn in hell. Personally, I was a little sketchy if they were actually innocent or not. It seemed the evidence or lack thereof was all circumstantial evidence and here say. There was no physical evidence that linked the trio to the crimes.

After the credit rolled on the movie, I was flabbergasted by the outcome of the trial. How could this be possible? The judicial is a joke if this was the outcome. Did I have my doubts about the verdict? Absolutely. Did I believe that they were all innocent? No. I had my doubts about Echols in the last moments of the movie.

This movie had me shaking my head in disbelief. The filmmakers' cameras were an impartial jury to the people who may not have known about what really happened. Unprecedented access was more astonishing them the OJ Simpson trial or Michael Jackson's. It amazes me that the filmmakers could make a film that did not pass judgment on anyone. It cast reasonable doubt on other potential suspects that the WMPD did not bother to investigate. Amazing.

My Rating: