Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Konterr Brilliant and touching

ShangLuda Admirable film.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

pocketg99 That's really all there is to it. This film is raw. This film will tear into you. More than just emotional, this film is magnetic. What is it really? A simple film; a simple subject. This movie is put together with simple style. It's mostly interviews and mostly hand-held, and yet somehow it eclipses so many more complex and more expensive movies when it comes to emotion. Like I said, this film is magnetic. It is not a movie that you have to work yourself up to watch. Sit down, press play, and this thing will take you. This is the sort of movie that makes you pay attention to it and once you pay attention to it, there's no escaping its impact. More so than any thriller, this is a movie that you can't look away from. Even if you already know how it will end, this film will affect you. At the end of the day, there must just be something to seeing someone look you in the eye, and pour their heart out. That's what this movie is all about.

Michael Fargo Throughout the course of this documentary (and the one that was compiled afterwards) we watch interviews where individuals are led to give a particular answer, either by another person, by an attorney during a trial, in conversations with media representatives or simply addressing the filmmakers' camera. Answers are always ones, the subject believes, what the listener wants to hear. It's true of the grief and rage expressed by the victims' families as well as the indignation and fear by friends and family members of those accused. No one seems authentic; everything appears calculated.And that very phenomenon winds up convicting 3 young men of murder and in one instance to death row. We're not told what led investigators to interview a young man who winds up confessing—unconvincingly—to the crime and implicating two of his friends. But once investigators focus on these three young men, very few facts (some flimsy fiber evidence and a knife found in a pond in proximity to one of the accused which isn't even tied to the killings) stand in the way of their conviction.While the cameras are rolling before the convictions, we can see that the accused stand very little chance of being acquitted. We don't see the jury nor are they interviewed, but there is so much hysteria within the community of West Memphis about the case, that we assume the jury is ready to convict even before they're seated. While there is no glaring misrepresentation by the defense attorneys, their efforts to combat the stigma of the horrible nature of the crime and the oddness of the accused are all in vain.I became uncomfortable with the focus placed on one of the family members of the victims, John Mark Byers. His neediness to be the center of attention may only be a combination of his grief, his mental limitations and a life where he most likely was marginalized and his son's death gives him a stage to perform on. And that's very much what happens with the accused. The community condemns them in the same way the filmmaker's allow us to condemn John Mark Byers, who has enough in his background to raise a thousand red flags. And we're left to wonder why the authorities never pursue him. My first thought is that the filmmaker's aren't letting us see all of his story. At one point (in the second installment of the documentary), Byers blurts out that his wife was murdered, when in fact the coroner has ruled the cause of death "undetermined." But his "slip of the tongue" may only be that he's convinced his wife's death was due to the aftereffects of his child's murder, and he holds the 3 accused as if they not only are responsible for his son's death but also for his wife's through her grief (she apparently had a long history of drug abuse).Nevertheless, the film holds you. I watched parts I & II back to back. And while I was left wanting answers to very simple questions (what was the time between when the boys were missing and when their bodies were found, who located the bodies, were there any footprints, did they drown?…on and on), I did witness how people can be manipulated while at the same time feeling manipulated by these very powerful films.

bob_meg Few things really set me off like willful ignorance and unfortunately, this now classic Joe Berlinger doc about one of the greatest legal travesties of the 20th century gave me plenty of chances to reach for my blood pressure pills.All the jaw-dropping stupidity of the prosecuting attorney's non-factual "arguments" combined with the coercive tactics from their incompetent cop flunkies, layered with the basic terror rednecks seem to respond with at anything not layered in right-wing religious voodoo (in other words, things they can't understand) would be really hysterical if three children hadn't died because of it all, and three more teens (one being legally retarded) lives needlessly ruined.It's the subject matter that really carries things here. Berlinger's hand is steady but at times his camera seems a bit too eager to dive into trashy voyeurism. However, he makes up for it with some great investigative reporting techniques.The true horror, when you get past the dismembered bodies of the three second-grade kids, is the fact that the three so-called "goths" who allegedly killed them are drowned by a corrupt legal system with stacks of so-called "evidence" that is either implied, completely fabricated, based on here-say, or could never possibly have happened when simple logic and physics laws are applied.Meanwhile, reams of other, very plausible suspects accumulate and nothing is done to pursue them (yes, Mark, we're talking to you). Only a true Gomer would be so inept as to hand over a potential murder weapon to the documentary filmmaker who's following him around. But serial killers have been known to supply "helpful" evidence about their crimes."West Memphis is hell," says one of the West Memphis Three's relatives. It certainly is, especially if you don't tote no bible.

schizo_dy When I started watching this movie I was aware of the story it presents and I knew it would be frustrating for me to watch it as I also knew the outcome. What I didn't know was the impact it was gonna have on me. I mean any person with half a brain can realize that the whole thing was a witch hunt. They needed someone to blame and the kids who dressed in black appeared to be the best choice at that moment. I can honestly say the movie is very impartial. There is no "Michael Moore character" in this movie explaining stuff or influencing you. The perspective is truly objective and they are only showing the facts. So it is a documentary in the true meaning of the word. Before watching the movie, I saw a comment by another user who ended with "sadly there is nothing we can do about it". Believe it or not, this is one of the few movies that actually made me want to take action, to do something to help those kids. So I tried to figure what I can do to help. What I am trying to do is make it easier to help for other people who have experienced what I have and simply think justice must be done. In short, if you wanna help and get involved with this, www.wm3.org is the place to start. It's the website where you can find updates on the case as appeals are still currently taken place and where you too can try to make a difference. Enjoy the movie!