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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: Docurama
Salesrank: 43299
Released: August 28, 2001 |
| Our Price: $9.99 |
| Used Price: $4.98 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations revisits the 1994 Arkansas murder of three 8-year-old boys and the three teenagers convicted of the crime. A follow up to Paradise Lost, Revelations features new interviews with the convicted men, as well as with the original judge and police investigators. While focusing on advocates who believe the young men are innocent Revelations also includes footage of the stepfather of one of the victims, who some suspect might be involved in the crime.
A disturbing and moving documentary, Revelations is investigative journalism and advocacy at its best. This case, as with the OJ Simpson and Jon Benet Ramsy murder trials, for better or worse, will remain in the spotlight for years to come as an example of America's judicial system gone astray.
DVD Features: Filmmaker Filmographies; Exclusive Photo Gallery; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection
Description of Paradise Lost 2 - Revelations:
Directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky return to the scene of the crime with this urgent follow-up to their harrowing 1996 documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. That profoundly disturbing film chronicles the tragic and twisted case of three young men--Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley--who were convicted of the brutal 1993 murders of three second graders. The film suggests that perhaps their only crime was dressing in black and liking Metallica. To the townspeople, this smacked of Satanism and marked them as made-to-order suspects. Meanwhile, Mark Byars, the stepfather of one of the victims emerged from the film as a "Why-isn't-anyone-following-up-on-this?" suspect. Revelations, which, for those who missed the first film, efficiently recaps the case, and charts the trio's maddening appeals process (police browbeat a confession out of Misskelley, who has an IQ of 71, after 12 hours of questioning), as well as the efforts of a group of Internet advocates to "Free the West Memphis Three." Byers is back as well, and he is infinitely more terrifying than anything in Book of Shadows, Berlinger's Blair Witch sequel. We learn that Byers had all his teeth extracted in the years after the murders (human bite marks are among the new evidence introduced). We also learn that his wife has since died of undetermined causes. When Byers passes a suspect lie detector test, he exults, "I knew I was innocent." A further mystery is why both Paradise Lost films have not garnered the media attention or sparked the outrage that attended Errol Morris's The Thin Blue Line, which led to the release of an innocent man who was imprisoned for more than 10 years. Both films give new meaning to the concept of reasonable doubt. --Donald Liebenson
Paradise Lost 2 - Revelations Reviews:
Many questions, no answers 
2009-07-12 - Never saw the first doc on this case, but this sequel seems sufficient to explain what happened and why. A group of media savvy LA scenesters have taken up the case of the three convicted teens, and this movie tells their story as they try to link the step-father of one of the victims to the 1993 crime. Informed viewers still don't get enough meat here to make a judgment either way, but the film, despite pretensions to neutrality, certainly makes its viewpoint clear: the crazy guy did it, not the teens. But Damien, the oldest teen, is his own worst enemy in raising suspicions. You wonder how did the evil stepdad manage to hold down three squirming 8-year-olds long enough to murder them as they played in the woods? Maybe it took three teens to do it? You just don't get to hear enough solid evidence to decide what is innuendo and what is fact here. You do see some gruesome crime scene pix.
excellent sequel to Paradise Lost
2009-03-30 - Paradise Lost 2: Revelations is a must-see for anyone who was taken by Paradise Lost.
wm3.org
The continuation... 
2008-10-05 - Remember Mark Byers? He was that really weird stepfather in the first documentary, the one who acted really suspicious.
Well here's another documentary dedicated to his weirdness. This sequel has really nothing else to offer the viewer other than that, along with some more disturbing crime photos. Yeah, it does provide some updates. For instance, there was the question of whether or not a mark found on one of the boys was a bite mark and, if it was that, why doesn't it match any of the three "killers." That's about all this film offers, other than speculation on Byers' possible guilt.
I felt that the first documentary sufficed. It was enough to get people talking about the case. This one was just exploitative. If you're really interested in the updates, you'd be better off doing some research on the internet yourself. You might even get a more balanced view. This film was just embarassing to watch. You know, it was like, "Been there, done that. Got it the first time."
By the way, I agree with the others on here who said this one was a lot like a witch hunt. Only now Byers is the alleged witch.
Excellent follow up 
2008-07-18 - High profile murder cases deserve follow up, and this was no exception. Though not as high profile as some have been, when a case like this brings out such emotion it is important to see what the players are doing through the years from the criminals to the victim's families.
There has been enough hype that has promoted this into popular thought. Internet groups have been sprung up to promote the innocence and hearsay that the three teenagers accused of murdering three boys in a demonic ritual were falsely accused. The teenagers are currently serving life sentences without parole. We see them in a different light than before. They are older, more mature, and hardened by prison. They are more accepting of their situation, saying that they wish they had not done or said the things they had said because they didn't understand before. Granted, but that is not enough to release them from their guilt.
We are supposed to cast doubt on their guilt by further investigation of the victim's stepfather. They are all poor white trash in Arkansas, he is no exception. He's had several brushes with the law, and his wife (the mother of one of the victims) died under mysterious circumstances in 96. He also had his teeth removed and wears dentures (which he takes out and displays many times in this documentary), casting doubt upon whether or not the bite marks on the victims could match his teeth. He is flamboyant and loves the spotlight, but the other victims' families choose to bow out, wanting to be left in peace with their grief. This is not enough evidence to convince me that he might have done it.
The fact remains that these teenage boys, now young adult men, will get the electric chair someday because they deserve it. There is too much evidence that they did it. Check the special features section in this and the first documentary to see the things that ended up on the cutting room floor. They didn't give you an accurate picture of them as teenagers, nor as young adults. There are several red herrings in evidence, the police did not do the best job they could have done (do they ever in these cases?), and too much has come forward from others to determine their guilt rather than defend their innocence.
The 20th Century Witch hunt continues... 
2007-12-30 - This sequel to Paradise Lost is not as good as the original and is less focused on the trial and is more attentive to the West Memphis 3 support group who developed after meeting on the internet to free the West Memphis 3. They hold internet chat room conferences, interview those involved in the case, get money together for professionals to reexamine the forensic evidence and believe that they have discovered bite marks on the victims that were not covered by the original trial.
Unfortunately due to problems with the original documentary and the impact it had, the film makers where prevented from covering actual trial footage during subsequent appeal hearings. Many family members and lawyers who appeared in the original documentary refused to be filmed for this sequel.
The father of one of the victims who received attention in the first documentary after handing the film makers a knife which had bloodstains becomes the target of inquiry by the film makers. He agrees to undergo a polygraph. There is a surprise result given the direction these documentaries have been going.
This is worth following especially given the attention this case has received on CNN's Larry King Live. It does highlight failing in judicial system but doesn't vindicate the West Memphis 3.
