Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Not since Errol Morris's The Thin Blue Line was instrumental in freeing a man from Texas death row has a documentary made such an impact on the American judicial system as Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's HBO trilogy about the so-called West Memphis Three. A trio of teens, suspected of Satanic cult leanings because of their dark clothes and interest in heavy metal music, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Miskelley were convicted in 1994 of the brutal murder of three eight-year-old boys in their small Arkansas hometown. The original 1996 film Paradise Lost (VL-5/97) introduced the case and suggested that the teens were railroaded, spawning a campaign to free them that was documented in 2000's Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (VL Online-8/01), along with an account of their appeals process. The second film also pointed an accusatory finger at Mark Byers, the vengeance-seeking stepfather of one of the victims. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory recaps the entire case, culminating in a weird bargain with the state that sets the trio free after 18 years in jail, but requires them to plead guilty while simultaneously allowing them to maintain their innocence. Along the way, a now-chastened Byers demands an investigation of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of another victim, after newly-discovered evidence seems to exonerate the West Memphis Three while also suggesting that Hobbs might have been the real killer. DVD extras include additional scenes, excerpts from a panel discussion with the newly freed men and the filmmakers, brief interviews with the trio, and text bios of the filmmakers. A fascinating apparent finale to this now notorious true-crime tale, Paradise Lost 3 raises fundamental questions about the American legal system. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)