West of Memphis (2012) **** (out of 4)This here is basically the fourth documentary to take a look at the West Memphis Three case, which gained worldwide attention after the PARADISE LOST trilogy. Countless celebrities including Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins and Peter Jackson came to the three men's cause and they are also featured here.So what this fourth film basically does is give you an overview of the case as well as new bits of information regarding who the killer might be. Let me start off by saying that this is a wonderfully entertaining film even though it is hard to watch at times since crime photos are shown in great detail. In fact, I will say that all four films on the subject were wonderful and certainly highly entertaining.With that said, as they bring up in this movie, the case will always be controversial with some believing the three men are guilty and others believing that they were set up by some crooked cops. Some believe that the media attention got three killers off with murder while others believe that the media forced the state of Arkansas to set the guys free. Even at the end, the controversy continues as the three men admit to be guilty but take a loophole law to say they're also innocent.I must admit that the PARADISE LOST series tried to place blame on one of the stepfather's but that person is shown as a great guy here. A new suspect is brought into play with evidence linking him to the crime but due to this loophole he will never be brought to trial. All four movies have demanded that the three men be released from prison and they have been. My question is now: what about the person who committed the crimes? What about the parents to the three murdered children? Is anything being done for them?

First of all, if you have seen the 3 Paradise Lost films or the 48 Hours coverage there is nothing new here. The film explains yet again why the WM3 are innocents - which is difficult to doubt - and tries to find another suspect, like Paradise Lost 3 did with Byer. Even if the man in question is guilty, it should not be up to a film to make accusations and substitute itself to a court of law. Paradise Lost 3 proved you can easily be wrong, even if all the evidences seems to be there. A lot of questions about he film itself are left unanswered, like why we see almost exclusively Damien and so few of Jason and Jessie. Did they refuse to participate? Were they left aside by the production? The implication of Peter Jackson and his wife is weird too; listening to him we have the impression he financed and directed all the process leading to the liberation of the 3. Moreover, a lot of things are pointless, especially the part with Stevie Branch sister's. What are we to make of her ordeal? She had a difficult life, but it doesn't prove anything. Last but not least, the film is incredibly badly filmed and edited. I don't remember having seen so many useless images in a documentary in a long time. It is like every time she doesn't have an image that goes with the sound, the filmmaker turns to meaningless images of cars, chairs or whatever. There is no visual imagination here, which is kind of frustrating giving the power of the subject. If you know nothing about the case, this film can work as a summary, but nothing more.

I generally am a pretty liberal guy and do root or the underdog and downtrodden more than the average person. This film almost sucked me in to believing their slanted view of the innocence of the West Memphis Three. Almost. As I watched the film, I began to have more and more doubts of their innocence as the film progressed. I found the attitudes and body language of the WM3 to show their guilt during the original trial in 1993-94. I mean if you were tried under false pretenses, wouldn't you be a little upset and vengeful, especially after being let out 18 years later? I also found Lorri Davis rather odd and in love with Damien, which is basically what drove her to get them out of jail. Her on screen appearance was bizarre and disturbing. This film doesn't provide a broad scope of evidence and instead provides only what it needs to get it's point across. It's a fact that 4 out of the six parents still believe that the WM3 are guilty. If you really want a clear picture of what happened, check out this site.http://thewm3revelations.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/a-question-of-dna/ They stretch they make as naming Terry Hobbs as guilty is just that. Quite a stretch. Yes Terry seems like a rough guy and probably guilty of being a weirdo but the confessions of Misskelley are in now way coerced or being led by the police at any point.Basically of bunch of people got together and let out 3 murdering sociopaths. Watch the documentary, and do your research and I would imagine anyone with common sense would agree. Very interesting and worth the time to watch but ultimately a biased slanted film.

American screenwriter, producer and documentary filmmaker Amy J. Berg's second documentary feature which she co-wrote with screenwriter and film editor Billy McMillin and co-produced, premiered in the Documentary Premieres section at the 28th Sundance Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Mavericks section at the 37st Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in USA and is an American production which was produced by producers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Damien Echols and Lorri Davis. It tells the story about American 16-year-old Charles Jason Baldwin, American 17-year-old Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr and American 18-year-old Michael Wayne Echols who in June, 1993 in the city of West Memphis in the state of Arkansas in Crittenden county, USA was arrested for the triple homicide of three 8-year-old boys named Michael Moore, Steve Branch and Christopher Byers whose bodies were found by a former Juvenile officer named Steve Jones and a policeman named Mike Allen in a pond in the Robin Hood Hills.Distinctly and subtly directed by American filmmaker Amy J. Berg, this fourth documentary about the now well-known West Memphis Three which was preceded by American filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" (1996), "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" (2000) and "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" (2011), is narrated from multiple viewpoints, draws a more multidimensional portrayal of the place where two young men were sentenced to life imprisonment and one to death by the Arkansas Supreme Court in the year of 1994, focuses mostly on the story of Damien Echols and reexamines the case which has engaged filmmakers, actors, musicians, journalists, defense attorneys, activists and people from all over the world in a common action to get the three men who become preys of a satirical judicial system exonerated. While notable for its distinct and atmospheric milieu depictions and the sterling cinematography by French cinematographer Maryse Alberti and Irish cinematographer Ronan Killeen, this narrative-driven retelling of a criminal case which began two decades from today, which as the former documentaries proves how horrible things can turn out when people in power decides to play almighty and self-righteously impose their judgment on people they regard as inferior and which deprived the freedom of three American citizens and isolated them from the civilized society for eighteen years, introduces new interviews, theories and stories and contains a timely score by Australian musicians and composers Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.This investigative, educational and scrutinizing study of a 20th and 21st century tragedy which is set mostly in the American South and which through a wide range of conversations with people who has, still is and will always be connected to the case describes the significance of the media and politics in this matter and points pretty clearly as to who the real perpetrator might be, is impelled and reinforced by its fragmented narrative structure, subtle continuity and nuanced style of filmmaking. A lyrical, philosophical, humane and informative documentary feature which brings forth unheard voices, acknowledges the many people who stood by the three convicted boys who became the earliest and most accessible targets of hatred and condemnation until their arduous and disregarded call for justice prevailed and underlines how a pivotal union between a once aspiring magician and a woman who dedicated her life to a man on death row was born in the midst of this real life horror story which began on a day in May, 1993 when three boys went missing.