Reviewed by Brad McKay

Unraveling the drama of a Hollywood film can be an intense experience for the audience. Witnessing the events unfold around the viewer, as small pieces of evidence reveal the true picture behind the crime; it can become quite extreme to watch. All of these emotions are only amplified when what one is watching turns out to be completely real.

The Paradise Lost collection documents the people and events around the child murders at Robin Hood Hills. It follows many of the family members, law enforcement, lawyers, and even the accused themselves, showing the viewers an in depth, real life story of crime, death, prejudice, and punishment.

In, the first film, Paradise Lost, we are introduced to a small town called Robin Hood Hills, in West Memphis, Arkansas, where gruesome murders took place. Three small boys, Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, were found dead along the creek side with horrific wounds, and having been hog tied. The police believe the victims were used in a satanic ritual, thrusting the very Christian town into a state of fear. Soon, a young man named Jessie Misskelley, Jr., confesses to helping two other individuals, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, capture and murder the boys. Soon, the three are arrested, and the trial begins.

The film turns from horrific to aggravating at this point, watching the prosecution and the court systems put these boys through a ‘fair trial’. The state uses very circumstantial evidence to make their case, citing such things as the accused’ preferring to wear black colored clothing, or their favorite music being heavy metal, as valid representations of their ability to murder another human being. Though the defense tries to bring the cases into focus through testimony and evidence, the state continuously misleads the jury with ideals of devil worship and a fear of other religions. Also, when the film shows the interviews of the victim’s families, you feel a lack of remorse when confronting their blind hatred for the accused, even when faced with the possibility they might have the wrong men on trial.

There’s no doubt that this film is remarkable. The amount of work put into the filming, along with the depth the filmmakers took in making themselves involved in the case, is simply amazing. The story itself is gripping, as you find yourself becoming involved with the people and the events (more than once I found myself talking out loud to my T.V.).

Though Paradise Lost was an amazing piece of work, Paradise Lost 2 does not live up to the first film’s high standards.

Paradise Lost 2 returns to the town of Robin Hood Hills, reconnecting with some of the people and families from the original film, while discussing some new pieces of evidence and stories that have arisen since the original film, though nothing revealed is really groundbreaking. The interviews, especially those of John Byers, are mostly just somewhat incoherent rants, and none of the events depicted really drive one’s emotions as strongly as the original did. Though not a waste of time, you just do not get as much out of it as the first film.

Though the DVD’s do contain a small amount of extra features, there really is not anything worth a lot of mention. It contains a timeline of events, trial updates, the theatrical trailer, biographies of the filmmakers, but the most interesting one is the exclusive trial footage the crew filmed during the course of the production of the original film. It is definitely worth checking out.

Overall, the collection is worth the money. Real life drama is hard to pass up, and a gripping story such as this deserves to be looked at, though I might not recommend the second film, as it really does not build much from the first.

Grade:

Movie - A

DVD - B