Devil's Knot

As I stated on my last entry here on the Video Creep that Jason Baldwin was one of the many guests at this year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend and one of the guests that I was most looking forward to meeting.

When I finally did meet Mr. Baldwin and his wife Holly I personally welcomed them to Texas and told him that I was glad to have them here.

I briefly conversed with them about the documentaries as well as the case and on Saturday I had the honor of shooting their QnA which was the most requested by staff and convention goers alike.  

Now He wasn’t there for the whole Weekend because on Saturday he had to leave right after the QnA but he did return late Saturday night the reason that Jason and Holly had to leave the event was because they were attending the premiere of the film Devil’s Knot.

Now as many of you already know that my mission statement on this Blog is to only review movies that I like and that I will recommend to you to watch and I would not make one of these recommendations without actually watching the movie and griping about it without ever watching it.

Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr serve as Executive Producers on this film however Damien Echols is not involved in the film for his own reasons.

As many of you know I have been following this case since it happened in 1993. Many of you have read my reviews of Paradise Lost 3 and West of Memphis and I have spoken about my own opinions in the case.

 I want to point out is that many reviewers are spouting their opinions that this story has been told already with four documentaries as well as a True crime book that this very film is adapted from and the question that they are asking is why is this needed?

The question that I am asking is Why Not?

This story is far from over. Many are saying The WM3 are out and have been released but that is not all it.

Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley Jr and Damien Echols all had to enter an Alford Plea to be released but there is more to it than that. The Alford plea is still a guilty plea and they were sentenced to time served and these three now when they interview for a job they have to mark yes when ask if they have ever been convicted. That doesn’t look good when looking for a job.

They are still on the books as convicted murderers for a crime that they did not commit.

Also they lost 18 years of their lives that they will never get back but there is another fact that is the real reason that this must continue.

A killer still walks the streets!

Now Paradise Lost 3 and West of Memphis have heavily implied who this killer is and the state of Arkansas is still not investigating this individual and not even looking for the killer and that is not a miscarriage of justice it is an Abortion of justice.

Devil’s Knot is also the first film about this subject that is narrative and dramatized.

Now I know that this film was made in Georgia but they did a great job of recreating locations in West Memphis Arkansas.

I recommend checking out the book that this film is based on by Mara Leveritt for more information.

Directed by veteran filmmaker Atom Egoyan this film is far more of a dramatization of the events from before the murder to the convictions which plays as much as a court drama than documentary.

The film primarily is told from the point of view of Pam Hobbs; mother of victim Stevie Branch.

Academy Award Winner Reese Witherspoon plays the role and surprisingly well. From moments before the murder the film follows her through the grieving process and her moments of doubt in the guilt in the suspects during the trials as well as her suspicions of her husband Terry.

She is joined by fellow Academy Award winning actor Colin Firth as West Memphis Private Investigator Ron Lax who decides to take on the case and work with the defense and begins to see the holes in the prosecution which makes him a target of not only the authorities but also the ire of Pam Hobbs’ Husband.

Firth and Witherspoon are joined by a surprising cast with Bruce Greenwood as Judge David Burnett, and Rex Linn as Inspector Gary Gitchell, with veteran character actor Elias Koteas with the small role of Parole Officer Jerry Driver.

I know that I have stated many times that I am a fan of John Mark Byers because he is quite frankly entertaining in the Paradise Lost documentaries and he is featured in this film played by Kevin Durand who does the man justice.

There is a deleted scene on the BluRay where Byers and his wife are interviewed for Paradise Lost and it features the filmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky as themselves.

Prosecutor John Fogelman is played by True Blood star Stephen Moyer. While his performance is great in the role I feel that he was probably not the best fit for it.

Now I am most impressed with the young actors Seth Meriwether Kristopher Higgins, and James Hamrick who play  Baldwin, Misskelly , and Echols.

As I stated ealier Devil’s Knot focuses on areas that Paradise Lost didn’t and that is another reason that I say this flick proves that there is more of the story to tell.

A major subplot of the film is the suspicion of Chris Morgan and Brian Holland who knew all of the children and mysteriously appeared after the murders at the home of Pamela Hobbs after the murders and very quickly relocated to California soon thereafter.  Particularly disturbing is the scene where they are examined by the court and the Judge demands that all persons that are not officials of the court leave the room.

Another suspect that is explored in the film that the investigation never particularly looked at was a mysterious man that appeared in the Bojangles restaurant covered in blood and mud and the police seemed not interested in. This man could either be a suspect or a witness that tried to intervene but was hurt or failed in the attempt.

The rest of the film focuses on the rush to point the finger at the three young suspects and the many holes in the prosecution’s case.

Vicki Hutcheson, whom is portrayed by World War Z star Mireille Enos plays a large role in the development of the case. Hutcheson not only involves her young son but also is the one that initially points the finger at the teenagers.

I also love the use of footage from the movie Race with The Devil in the film.

As I had earlier stated I definitely recommend checking out the film especially if documentaries isn’t your thing this film you should watch to learn more about the story of the West Memphis 3.