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.

West of Memphis

I know that all of you are well aware that I have followed the ongoing saga of the Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills with great interest.

Since learning of the case from my aunt in 1993 that lived not too far where the crime had occurred and it was the big discussion at my cousin’s graduation of that year and the arrest of the trio that will always be remembered as the West Memphis 3.

A year ago I posted my review of Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, the third in a series of documentaries produced by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky chronicling the events and the ongoing series in this travesty of justice.

Beginning with the original documentary Paradise Lost: The Child murders of Robin Hood Hills telling the story of Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin who were convicted of the brutal murders based on circumstantial evidence and local prejudice based on the fact that they listened to Metallica, wore black and read Stephen King books which naturally many of us would take offence to considering that if you are reading this review you are most likely of this behavior yourself.

I was not the only one that was bothered by this as was many high profile celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, Natalie Maines as well as Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh who gave their full support and fronted a whole new investigation as well as produced this new documentary in West of Memphis.

 

Directed by Amy J. Berg and produced by both Peter Jackson and Damien Echols himself among others, West of Memphis retells the case from a whole new perspective as well as focuses on the investigation and the reasons for the wrong conviction in the first place as well as the introduction of new evidence that was not even taken into consideration in the original trial in 1994.

West of Memphis features interviews with key witnesses that reveal in this documentary that they were not telling the truth in the original trial and the reasons that they chose that path as well as the guilt that they feel for making this decision.

One of the key pieces of evidence introduced in this documentary is the sound theory that many of the wounds on the children were committed post mortem by not the killer but by alligator turtles that are native and common in the area where the bodies were found.

In a truly surreal sequence a man allows one of these turtles to bite his arm to show what the bite mark will look like and it matches the wounds on the victim.

Much like Paradise Lost 3 this film focuses a great deal on a suspect  who was the step father of one of the victims and was never addressed as a suspect in the original investigation. The film follows his own alibi who himself suspects him of the murders as well as the abusive relationship between him and  his stepson the victim.

What this film definitely points out is that there is far more evidence including DNA evidence that links this man to the murder than there is that points to either any member of the WM3 or Mark Byers who is often looked at as a suspect in this case.

West of Memphis is told from the conviction all the way to their eventual release with an Alford Plea and the story is told in a way that would be suspenseful for someone that is not familiar to the case.  The conclusion is also worth watching in seeing how the WM3 react when they first obtain their freedom.

Now I have to say that the Paradise Lost Trilogy disturbed me but West of Memphis angered me.

The fact that this film revealed to me the corruption that lies within the elected officials that were in power in this flick and it was simply disturbing.

The fact that the events in this film and it’s sister films can happen in this day and age really scares me, and I have seen some scary things in my years as a movie goer.

Just as far as this “conspiracy” goes is what scares me in the fact that we don’t know how far this goes in the chain of command in the state powers and interests and I will recommend this flick to all movie goers and I will consider it to be a must see for all of you that think that this won’t happen to you.

What angers me the most is that a state can’t not just admit that they made a mistake but the depths that they will go to cover it up and that they will let a killer walk the streets because it will reveal that they screwed up.

 

Definitely check this flick out.

 

 

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

You want to know what I really like about HBO? Allot of it is their documentaries. They have some of the best topics especially in their America Undercover line. Now I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the Taxi Cab Confessions but to each their own.

One documentary that was made by HBO was shot in 1993 titled Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills. The film follows the murder of three children in West Memphis Arkansas and the 3 teenagers accused of their murder. What the film crew realized while they were making the movie is that the three accused Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, who would become known as the West Memphis 3 were convicted based on circumstantial evidence and mostly prejudice due to the fact that they wore black clothes, listened to bands like Metallica, as well as they had read Stephen King books.

Now this documentary did what documentaries are supposed to do. They are supposed to make you think and a good documentary is supposed to make you angry. This documentary did both of those for me.
Paradise Lost told me the story of a modern day witch hunt. Just the fact that you could be not just accused of murder but also convicted of the crime based on the fact that you wear black and are a little different. It makes be thank my lucky stars that my Father’s business transferred him to Texas where I was raised and not Arkansas.

In 2000 a sequel was made titled Paradise Lost: Revelations that follows the reaction to the original film.

Well into 2007 new DNA evidence was uncovered and Filmmakers Joe Berlinger Bruce Sinofsky began shooting the next installment of the West Memphis 3. The new evidence was so strong that John Mark Byers, adoptive father of murder victim Christopher Byers, Who was long outspoken about the guilt of the WM3 changed his position as well as victim Stevie Branch’s Mother Pamela Hobbs.

In August of last year The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered that the WM3 be granted a retrial 18 years later allowing all of the new evidence. However in a surprise move the WM3 were offered a Alford plea bargain where they still plead their innocence but they change their plea to guilty and they are sentenced to time served.
Now There are a lot of angry people on this decision, most namely the three men wrongly convicted of the crime that they did not commit as well as their families as well as the families of the victims.

Now you ask ,Why was this plea bargain made?

It is simple The state of Arkansas did this in order to avoid a new trial because if there were to be a retrial and the WM3 were found to be innocent then there would be many of civil trials that would follow. There would be suites from the WM3 as well as the families and the cost should go well into the millions.

Not to mention the fact that the killer of the children walks the streets.
Now let’s talk about the flick.

I definitely want to recommend the other two flicks to all of you but the truth is that it really isn’t that much of a necessity. The flick goes back to the beginning and shows the case and the evidence that was not brought to the trial. It is different from the first as now it is all done in hindsight which is always 20/20.

We are then shown the people involved in the case and where they are now. The most interesting person here in my opinion in Mark Byers ,because he is featured prominently in the previous documentaries loudly claiming the guilt of the WM3. He even goes as far as to argue with the other supporters. Byers is also a suspect in the murder of not just his son but in the death of his wife who had passed since the original film and is shown submitting to a polygraph that he passes.

Well in the decade since Revelations, Byers has done a complete 180 and is now a strong supporter of the “Free the WM3” movement. His attention and anger is focused on the new suspect in the case as well as the West Memphis Police Department for locking up the wrong people.

I have to give credit to Byers for looking at the facts and then admitting that he was wrong and even receiving a letter from Echols. Now the flick spends a lot of time following Terry Hobbs who is named as a suspect and then sues the Dixie Chicks for Defamation after she mentions him as a suspect.

The imagery at the end of the documentary is highly moving as we are shown images of the three being released and returning to their families and it is shot and edited for great storytelling.

This is how to make a documentary.

I not only recommend checking out this documentary, This Film even received a Oscar nomination which was highly deserved.