Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

This is the final film in a trio of documentaries following a heinous crime in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 when three young boys were sexually assaulted and murdered not far from their homes.(I recommend You Watch the other films first, you can here : Paradise Lost 1 and Paradise Lost 2) .

The first film had followed the aftermath of the murders and the trial of three young men charged with and convicted of the crimes.

Following the first films release doubts that were cast by many as to whether the right men had been caught after all; this was the main theme of the second film.

Part 3 Purgatory now quiet strongly asserts the innocence of the convicted men Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. In the second film Revelations from 2000 we found a small number of people that had real issues with the case but now 11 years on there has been a crescendo of support for the men being called The West Memphis Three including from celebrity's such as Musician  Eddie Vedder and Director Peter Jackson and the new wife of the convicted man thought to be the ringleader Damien Echols.

A truly amazing set of films were for all intents and purposes the single documentary Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky set out to make grew into something they never could have imagined. Documentaries are powerful that's why we love them but now and again a documentary can have an effect that changes the course of history.

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Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Paradise Lost 2: Revelations is the sequel to the controversial 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (Watch that first if you have not already).In the first documentary we see three people Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin charged, tried and found guilty of the sexual assault and murder of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas.

While Misskelley and Baldwin were sentenced to life in prison Echols being old enough and seen as the ring leader was sentenced to death. Revelations picks up the story in 2000 and at the start we see there had been a big reaction to the first documentary with many thinking it even went to proving the innocence of the three convicted. Some groups had even been created to try help prove the innocence of Misskelley, Echols and Baldwin saying there was no evidence and the motive of Satanic ritual was suspect. John Mark Byers the adoptive father of one of the murdered boys also gets attention with some pointing the finger at him as a suspect. After Paradise Lost 2: Revelations there is a final documentary you can watch here Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.

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Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills displays perfectly the impact a documentary or in this case set of documentaries can have. Released in 1996 covering the case of three young boys Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch who were murdered and sexually assaulted in West Memphis, Arkansas three years earlier.As the film begins three people Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin had been arrested and charged with the murders. We get to hear from the family of the boys and people connected before the documentary goes on to cover the trials of the three accused of committing the crime as a Satanic ritual.The film has two not to be missed sequels you can watch here Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.

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