Tonight, HBO is set to premiere Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, the third film in a trilogy of documentaries that tells the story of the West Memphis 3, three teenagers who were convicted in 1993 of the rape and murder of three young boys.
The West Memphis 3 were released from prison last year, with the original documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and the follow-up film Paradise Lost 2: Revelations exploring the aftermath of the crime following the arrest of the three teens, and inevitably bringing to light some of the holes in the case against Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. The two films raised substantial public awareness of the case. From the sound of it, this third documentary, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, which went into production in 2004, not only serves as a conclusion to the story, but is also set up so that seeing the first two films doesn’t appear to be a requirement, at least, this according to what co-director Bruce Sinofsky says...
“We tried to make the film a self-sufficient viewing experience, so that you don’t have to have seen the previous films to fully comprehend this complicated case.” Adds co-director Sinofsky, “We re-tell the early days of the case with footage we have never used before, so fans of the first two films will be viewing past events with a fresh perspective.”
The above said, HBO is set to air the first two films immediately following tonight’s premiere of Purgatory, which debuts this evening (Thursday, January 12th) at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
