Paradise Lost - The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
by Sinofsky, Bruce
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher Byers, Jason Baldwin, John Mark Byers, Melissa Byers, Steven BranchDirector: Sinofsky, Bruce
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 150 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Video Group
Movie Reviews of Paradise Lost - The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Movie Review: What a horror story about a bunch of posers
Summary: 5 Stars
Documentaries have a strange way about them. Long before reality TV, people were truly captured in the raw. Perhaps in no other situation than a true crime will we see people in their starkest form, confronted with situations that they would never face no matter what their value systems, socioeconomic background, religious beliefs, etc. This was a true horror story unlike anything.
In 1996, three teenage boys were arrested for the brutal murder and mutilation of three second grade boys in a small town in Arkansas. They were found in creek bed, near an area known for some "strange things". The three teenagers wore heavy metal T shirts, listened to metal music, and were into Satan worship. They were the subject of a witchhunt, with the whole town after them.
Having watched this, I see this in so many lights. Perhaps the most horrifying was the fact that we see the videotaped evidence of the children at the creekbed. Who killed these children and why? Maybe they saw something they weren't supposed to see, or maybe they were just there at the wrong time. One of the teenagers relented, after 12 hours of grilling, saying that he and the other two murdered the kids.
Having lived through a lot of this nonsense growning up, I know that all this foolishness about Satanism and black masses and sacrificing virgins is just a bunch of baloney. Yes, these things have happened in the past, but they have not happened as often as we have been lead to believe that they have. Most of that is all hype, urban angst and paranoia. That being said, there are teenagers who (although these days are about 20 years outdated) are trying to make their statements of "I want attention" by dressing outlandishly and acting out. Most of it is about how you dress and what music you listen to. There is also wicca religion, which is not indicative of Satanism or metal music, but popular opinion says that it's the same.
Jessie is the turncoat, the one who said that the three of them killed the boys. He has an IQ of 71 and confessed after being held under police pressure for 12 hours. Taking this into account, despite his low IQ, I think he was telling the truth. Eventually people cannot keep a secret. Jason, the second fiddle to the leader, comes off as passive and showing some regret in his blank face. We see the leader of the three, Damian, as the master of the plan. He is the boogeyman we are all to fear. He comes off as being an "average guy" type in interviews, but, I don't trust him. I don't trust him because we are looking at the kinder, gentler Damian and not the man who committed a murder. We meet about three quarters of the way through the movie his girlfriend and mother of his son, who he will not get to raise as he will be behind bars. Parenthood changes a person to the point that they are softer and less angry. Prison life as well has probably made him look at things before as being ridiculous to what he was so angry about. They were dangerous people before they came under the gun for these murders.
That being said, did one or all of these teenage boys murder these children? The answer is a resounding YES in my mind. They would have murdered these children if they were upper class yuppies or trailer trash, which they just happened to be. Why? I don't know. Maybe they did it because they could.
A true horror story that shows you what happens to families and communities with tragedy. Truly weird and shocking. You will never quite get over it.
Summary of Paradise Lost - The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
On May 6, 1993, the mutilated bodies of three 8-year-old boys were found in a shallow creek in West Memphis, Arkansas. A short time later police arrested three local teenagers, linking the boys' killings to a satanic ritual. One of the boys confessed. The intriguing court case was about to unfold as filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky ventured forth to make this documentary. They captured footage of not only courtroom proceedings but also interviews with the major players in trial--parents, suspects, lawyers. The documentary filmmakers, whose previous film, Brother's Keeper, is as intriguing of a crime story you'll ever see, tells this story without re-creations or flashbacks. The film makes a clear argument that the court trial may not be about witchcraft but a witch hunt. As with any great drama, the faces and situations are etched upon the viewer; however, we are dealing with real lives and real crimes (told gruesomely and necessarily by police photographs and videotape), and the impact is far greater. And so is the maddening ambivalence of the trial. Like the O.J. Simpson fiasco, a verdict is reached but the truth is questioned. Did police make fatal errors the night of the crime? Do last-minute clues lead to justice? Who's lying on the stand? As with Roger and Me and Hoop Dreams, we have a provocative single incident that holds a mirror to many of society's problems. The results are just more horrifying. The Emmy-winning film was followed four years later by Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. --Doug ThomasOne of the most influential documentaries in recent years, the Sundance favorite PARADISE LOST is an emotionally raw, must-see crime doc from two of today's most exciting filmmakers--Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (the team behind Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Brother's Keeper). This dark odyssey began with the tragic murders of three 8-year-old boys, whose bodies were discovered in a shallow creek in West Memphis, Arkansas. The community demanded justice, and one month later the police delivered: three local teenagers accused of sacrificing the boys as part of a Satanic ritual. Despite overwhelming public antipathy towards them, defendants Damian Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley steadfastly maintained their innocence. Although the trial produced virtually no physical evidence connecting the defendants to the crime, the town, the jury, and the police felt that they had their killers, and used the young men's penchant for heavy metal music and black clothing and a fascination with the Wicca religion as evidence of their guilt. With unprecedented access to all the players, Berlinger and Sinofsky captured the events as they unfolded before their cameras. From actual courtroom footage and clandestine jailhouse interviews to behind-the-scenes strategy meetings and intimate portraits of grief-stricken families, PARADISE LOST is a shocking yet uniquely American real-life drama. DVD Features: Exclusive Trial Footage; Timeline of Events; Trial Updates; Theatrical Trailer; Filmmaker Biographies; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection
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