West of Memphis

It's a nice wrap-up for anyone who's followed the case and seen the Paradise Lost series. But the trial by documentary of Terry Hobbs disturbed me. They conveniently ignored some details (if Terry had his daughter that evening, where was she while he was out killing the boys?), brought up some bad-character witnesses and shoddy testimonies, had Jacoby try to entrap him over the phone, soundtracked Hobbs' facial expressions with ominous music... If this was a film about injustice, well.

Before the West Memphis 3 became the cause celebre the story was and is a retread about essentially the same facts. It's about incompetent hicks from the "god fearin'" red state third world part of the U.S. bungling murder investigations for political gain. It's also about ignorant morons who believe that satanic cults are a real widespread thing and probably also believe Obama is a secret kenyan muslim too. After all anyone different is guilty until proven innocent in that part of America.

Having seen Paradise Lost 1,2 & 3 already, I wasn't too excited to watch this, as I was wondering, "What more could they cover?" A lot...it seems. This doc shows what the neighbors and family members think and also leads us to the potential real killer.

Yeah so apparently the criminal justice is great when it "works". This movie is a liberal delusion.

Sobering documentary about a clear miscarriage of justice is powerful and gripping as it lays out a convincing case for the accuseds mistrials (or at least a disturbing lack of substance to key evidence); less convincing (and vaguely troubling) is the attempted prosecution of Hobbs in the final third, which feels too slapdash and (ironically) relies too heavily on trial-by-insinuation. Still an important and thoughtful meditation on the limitations and flaws of an imperfect legal system.

Solidny dokument na temat Trojki z West Memphis. Na DVD polskie napisy - w koncu, bo do Paradise Lost sie nie doczekalem, nawet nieoficjalnych.

What is originally spelled out as a tragic and simple crime story becomes much more complex as many different factors are involved. It seems like this case was handled badly by all involved (especially the accused) and I was sometimes confused as to why certain witnesses lied, yet the way this story unfolds and becomes much more clearer is very absorbing. Even when the film begins to point the finger, it remains still unbiased and makes sure all key persons are interviewed and give their opinion

This is a tough sell, having three previous documentaries on the subject but it manages to bring a few more pieces of info to light. It is also much sleeker. That being said it cannot live up to the shocking first Paradise Loss entry. Still worth seeing for the slight hypocrisy of making a case against someone else with nothing but circumstantial evidence.

West of Memphis offers production and entertainment value that the Paradise Lost series greatly lacks, but does stray into the dangerous (and often rather boring) true-crime trope of trying to cram in a case for a new suspect. WoM makes a beautiful case for innocence, but flounders at doing much else.

There were interviews and new information, but it felt a bit redundant with Paradise Lost.

I haven't seen any of the Paradise Lost series so all of this was fresh to me. It was an expertly constructed documentary and brought a lot of info to the table. A fascinating case.

"By taking a disturbing and sometimes conflicted look at the prejudices that led to the West Memphis Three's imprisonment, it asks murky questions about how people could get something so wrong for so long." - Tomas Hachard

When Peter Jackson is not busy avoiding having to pay SAG union wages by filming all his epic trilogies in the land of milk and kiwis, he's laundering his ill-gotten Sacajaweas in an attempt to get Arkansas to put the 'just' back in 'justice.' Arkansas responds with a "there ain't no 'me' in justice," and gets away with a doozy. USA! USA!

The Alford plea, nothing less than embarrassing!

THE BUTLER DID IT

I found it to be a pretty interesting and engrossing film. I didn't think there was too much emotional manipulation going on, which can often be the case in such documentaries, so that's good. It reminded me of Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) in the way that they both deal with huge injustices and failure of the justice system and how frustrating it all is. I recommend everyone giving this a watch.

Makes for a nice epilogue to the Purgatory series, but makes no secret to who they think committed the murders.

This documentary is awesome but it left me with a ton of questions, like for instance why is Arkansas so crazy? Who is the murderer? Why does Peter Jackson care about any of this? Why is any movie that Peter Jackson is affiliated with almost three hours long or more? So, so, so many questions. Still, I found this very engrossing and enjoyable. I didn't like Damien's wife though, people who marry prison inmates while they are in jail on death row are just weird and creepy. Just my opinion.

Bottom line - Dont believe everything police tell you in the media. Decide for yourself based on evidence

Gut wrenching!

Still on the fence about who committed the murders, however this is a solid documentary. Impressed.

Anyone who wants to find out more should definitely check out Paradise Lost.

I didn't expect to hear anything new, but West of Memphis succeeds where Paradise Lost films failed and makes a convincing case for the innocence of WM3. Also, it makes a convincing case for the guilt of Terry. It seems that nothing came out out of it (new documentary coming?), but still this is good documentary on its own. Definitely better that Paradise Lost 2 and 3. Jason is a great guy, it seems.

Justice not done as the person or persons who actually did this will never get their comeuppance. Glad the guys are out though. Shocking miscarriage of justice.

Very good.

A good, well-made bringing together of the Paradise Lost trilogy with a little extra.

Leaves a lot of questions unanswered and feels way too biased.

If you've seen the third Paradise Lost instalment, you've pretty much seen this. Summarising the story and covering the three's subsequent release, it's so similar there's really little to add - except we learn how scavenging turtles caused many of the injuries, and a bit more about the utterly ridiculous Alford plea. Terry Hobbs' possible involvement is expanded upon, although by now you're far more angry at the 'justice' system and the police/prosecutors than the original murders themselves.

The terrible thing is that what happened to the WM3, happens to tens of thousands every year. There is no Justice system; there is a Legal System that is flawed and corrupt.

A must watch if you have seen the previous Paradise Lost docs. If you haven't seen those (and know nothing of this case), I suggest you watch those first and this one last.

What a f-ed up ending.

suffers occasionally from vaguely crime tv like sensationalism and also celebrity interviews. the dedication at the end brought it into focus though: the sort of ethically suspect but necessary legal compromise that got them out mirrors the pandering to a wantonly scandalized public and self important celebrities that got them to that point. the film is a coda to and final element of an ugly exploitation that nonetheless secured the release of three innocents.