Monday, March 13, 2006

My DVD Review: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills and Revelations: Paradise Lost 2



The story:
The award winning Paradise Lost films tell the horrifying true story of the West Memphis Three, the notorious American murder case in which three Arkansas teenagers, with a penchant for black clothes and heavy metal music, were accused and charged with killing three 8-year old boys in a Satanic ritual.
Fraught with emotionally charged testimony, allegations of coerced confessions and a lack of physical evidence, the sensational trial prompted many to claim the teenagers were wrongly convicted in an atmosphere of "Satanic Panic".
The filmmakers spent over seven years capturing these shocking events as they unfolded before their cameras, with unprecedented access to all involved in this real-life human drama.
As an international movement to "Free The West Memphis Three" gathers pace and the three convicted men continue to serve out their sentences (with alleged ringleader Damien Echols on Death Row) difficult questions still linger: are the West Memphis Three guilty of sacrificing three eight-year-olds to the Devil, or are they victims of a modern-day witch hunt? Was justice served, or are the real killers still free?
With the release of both landmark films together for the first time ever, it's time to make up your mind.

A good friend of mine recommended this documentary to me. I was going to hire it out but no one round my area had it. So I took my $40 I had saved and went out and bought it. Best money I've spent in a long time. I sat and watched both DVD's in one sitting. I think the first DVD was over 2 hours, the second near on 2 hours too. I was hooked though.
I didn't know anything about this case. So I went in with an open mind. I sure came out of it differently. I can't see any possible way how these 3 teenage boys can be convicted of this crime with no evidence? The only thing was the "confession" of Jessie Misskelley, who has an IQ of 72, and it's said in the documentary that people with low IQ's are subject to giving false confessions because they are easily influenced. There is no forensic evidence of these boys comitting murder. Because they wore different clothes, listened to the wrong kind of music, read horror novels, studied Wicca, they were condemned. To me, that is wrong. It points to someone else doing the murders, but as not to spoil the story for those who haven't seen it, I won't say who it is.
My friend also directed me to a website devoted to the West Memphis Three, which can be found here. It shows all the updates, how you can help in freeing these innocent boys, who are now men.
It's a great documentary. If anything it delves into the american court system and it shows the injustices that can happen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

3 comments:

nenni said...

I'll have to keep a lookout for that dvd!

It sounds interesting

LuNaMooN said...

I spent most of last night reading the forum they have on that site. Quite interesting...I'll probably check out the chatroom too a bit later

nenni said...

I'm going to have a look right now :D