rglafleur-54727 This "movie" is total bullshit. There is no truth, and no reliability. EVERY actor is terrible. Look at every shot, its full of mismatched items. They put the stupidest people you will ever encounter, and put them on the stage so YOU can feel brilliant. The crust of america.

Steve Pulaski On May 5, 1993, three second graders, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers, were reported missing and were later discovered murdered and mutilated in a small section of woods in West Memphis, Arkansas. Soon after, three teenagers, Damien Echols, 18, Jessie Misskelley Jr., 17, and Jason Baldwin, 16, were arrested for the murders and put on trial.Why were they arrested? Because they were outcasts in a way. They were the strangest of the strange, and had been arrested in the past for vandalism and shoplifting. Misskelley was the first to be tried and interrogated, and with an IQ of about 72, it was safe to say the story would be jumbled and a little shaky. The actual confession from Misskelley, which we are grateful enough to hear, is full of inconsistencies (for instance, saying the murders were committed in the afternoon, then later in the evening). Miskelley was tried separately from the other two boys, and received life plus forty years in prison.The next trials were of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, whom were tried together. It seems Echols was tried on personality and interests more than hardcore evidence. Echols appears to be an intelligent young man who has developed a fondness for wearing black, listening to Metallica, and practicing the Wicca religion - a religion where one has love for the world and the environment.Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is an excellent journey through a suspicious case and three convicted men who may not deserve to be. What is truly astonishing is how much filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky were allowed to film. They seem to have been present the entire trial, day in and day out for both. We get footage I'm not sure we're even supposed to see.The interviews with the parents of the boys are haunting yet understandable. One parent says that the day the boys die he will spit and release other bodily functions on their graves. He curses the day they're born and the mothers who birthed them, as well. The other parents are stunned and saddened, some not even feeling sympathy or sorry for the three boys of the tragedy. They are far too consumed with sadness, lost, and pessimism to care.One other thing the film does very well and without apology is it shows us the inner-workings of the legal system. The case seems to be judged entirely on subjectivity and first impression. If I were to see only pictures of the three boys, without hearing a word of them I'd probably believe they did commit the murders. After hearing their pleas I can't say that I do any longer.The most convincing boy is Echols. Baldwin rarely gets any camera time, and when he does, he speaks entirely in soft-spoken fragments, yet still projects believability to his claims. Misskelley is a big confusing in his statements, but it's understandable. Not only he is slow, but he's put under an immense amount of pressure obviously making it worse.I concluded Paradise Lost with three emotions in my system; confusion, frustration, and optimism. Confusion because of what just unfolded in front of my eyes. This is a very long documentary and makes you take a lot in during its two and a half hour runtime. Frustration because the legal system the United States provides claims everyone will have "a fair trial," yet parts of the case seemed biased and judgmental. And optimism because I believe the appeals Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelley have requested will provide insight, answers, and perhaps hope for the youths.NOTE: This marks my five-hundredth review. Glad it was at least a four star film.Starring: Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin. Directed by: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.

bob_meg Few things really set me off like willful ignorance and unfortunately, this now classic Joe Berlinger doc about one of the greatest legal travesties of the 20th century gave me plenty of chances to reach for my blood pressure pills.All the jaw-dropping stupidity of the prosecuting attorney's non-factual "arguments" combined with the coercive tactics from their incompetent cop flunkies, layered with the basic terror rednecks seem to respond with at anything not layered in right-wing religious voodoo (in other words, things they can't understand) would be really hysterical if three children hadn't died because of it all, and three more teens (one being legally retarded) lives needlessly ruined.It's the subject matter that really carries things here. Berlinger's hand is steady but at times his camera seems a bit too eager to dive into trashy voyeurism. However, he makes up for it with some great investigative reporting techniques.The true horror, when you get past the dismembered bodies of the three second-grade kids, is the fact that the three so-called "goths" who allegedly killed them are drowned by a corrupt legal system with stacks of so-called "evidence" that is either implied, completely fabricated, based on here-say, or could never possibly have happened when simple logic and physics laws are applied.Meanwhile, reams of other, very plausible suspects accumulate and nothing is done to pursue them (yes, Mark, we're talking to you). Only a true Gomer would be so inept as to hand over a potential murder weapon to the documentary filmmaker who's following him around. But serial killers have been known to supply "helpful" evidence about their crimes."West Memphis is hell," says one of the West Memphis Three's relatives. It certainly is, especially if you don't tote no bible.

lastliberal The trouble with documentaries these days is that cable news covers stories so thoroughly that there is nothing left to tell. Fortunately, I have not seen coverage of this story, so it is perfect for me. It also occurs in Arkansas, a state I lived in for many years, so I am familiar with the people, even if I did not live in this part of the state. I believe the nuns who taught me in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade were from Jonesboro.The story barely stated when I heard Satanic worship mentioned. I usually get ready to dismiss anyone that brings that up. It is too easy to use to rile up the yokels. Of course, homosexual orgies are mentioned also as part of the work of Satan's minions.The trials were the main focus of the film and it was interesting to see, in one case, that there was absolutely no evidence against one and he was convicted just because he hung out with another who was condemned because he wore black, listened to heavy metal, and read books on Wicca.I can't wait for the followup.