Review of Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000) by Jon H — 31 Jul 2008

A brilliant follow-up to the original, analysing further where the case went wrong and offering other possible answers. Focusses more on the campaign to free the West Memphis 3 and other possible forensic evidence that was missed in the trial.

Also an increasingly scary insight into one of the murdered boys fathers and serious questions as to his involvement, interestingly I noted when he was taking the pre-polygraph interview, he said he was arrested for DUI after his wife's murder (at 1hr 12min) nobody picks up on this in the documentary and I wonder is it a Freudian slip or a genuine mistake.

Still 9 years after this doc, the 3 are still in prison. Lots of new evidence has emerged since this was made and particular DNA evidence exonerates the 3 and points to another parent other than Byers, Paradise Lost 3 is in production at the moment and a re-trial is due in September, so maybe that will finally be the closing chapter.

It's so rare to have a documentary trilogy, but these films have caught an incredibly important part of American history as it has happened.