Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills Reviews

A harrowing documentary about murder and its awful aftermath in a small Southern town. On May 6, 1993, the mutilated bodies of three 8-year-old boys were found dumped in a wooded area of West Memphis, AR. The grief-stricken community clamored for action, and the police readily complied: One month later, three local teenage boys -- Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Charles Baldwin -- were arrested. No evidence -- nothing, in fact, except the confused confession of Misskelley, who has an IQ of 72 -- linked the suspects to the murders. But the teens ran afoul of Bible Belt prejudices: They listened to heavy-metal music, dabbled in alternative religions and wore a lot of black, which made them just the sort of demonic fiends locals imagined could murder children. Echols, 18, was singled out as the epitome of a Satan-worshipping "ringleader." In a word, they were different, and different did not sit well with the residents of West Memphis. The subsequent trials were a shocking travesty of justice, and filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky -- whose excellent BROTHER'S KEEPER similarly explored small-town America via its judicial system -- were fortunate enough to get it all on tape. In the end there's little question of the boys' innocence, and one disturbing fact remains: In the mad rush for vengeance, the savage killer of three youngsters has gone free.