West of Memphis (2012)

An examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.

Director:

Amy Berg

Writers:

Amy Berg, Billy McMillin

Stars:

Jason Baldwin, Damien Wayne Echols, Jessie Misskelley

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Michael Baden	...	Self (as Dr. Michael Baden)
Jason Baldwin	...	Self
Holly Ballard	...	Self
Jamie Clark Ballard	...	Self
Jennifer Bearden	...	Self
Patrick Benca	...	Self
Steve Braga	...	Self
Karen Bruewer	...	Self
David Burnett	...	Self
John Mark Byers	...	Self (as Mark Byers)
Michael Carson	...	Self
Dennis Carter	...	Self
Heather Crawford	...	Self (archive footage)
Joyce Cureton	...	Self
Lorri Davis	...	Self

Storyline

West of Memphis is an examination of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.

---

Plot Keywords:

west memphis three | alford plea | year 1996 | year 1993 | year 2009 | 

---

Genres:

Documentary | Crime

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Sony [United States]

Country:

New Zealand USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 2012 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

West of Memphis

Filming Locations:

Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,360, 30 December 2012

Gross USA:

$310,154

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$318,317

Company Credits

Production Co:

Disarming Films, WingNut Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage) Color (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Damien Wayne Echols: The thing I like most about time is that it's not real. It's all in the head. Sure, it's a useful trick if you wanna meet someone at a specific place in the universe to have tea or coffee. But that's all it is, a trick. There's no such thing as the past, it exists only in the memory. There's no such thing as the future, it exists only in our imagination. If our watches were truly accurate the only thing they would ever say is now.

---

Connections

References Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

---

Soundtracks

1994
Written and performed by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

User Reviews

That's the way they do things in West Memphis

There's no such thing as a nice murder, but the deaths of three children in West Memphs, Arkansas in 1993 seemed particularly horrific: the killer had apparently cut off his victim's penises and drunk their blood before throwing the corpses into a creek. The police promptly rounded up some local kids with a passing interest in Satanism, and a conviction as duly secured. Only later, amid mounting concerns over a potential miscarriage of justice, did it emerge that an incompetent pathologist had failed to recognise that the wounds were almost certainly inflicted post-mortem, and not by the killer, but by turtles. Not only had the wrong people been convicted of the crime, but the crime was perhaps just an "ordinary" murder after all. But getting the State to agree was a further long struggle. Amy Berg's documentary charts the story. It's horrific (the crime was still an awful one, even if not quite as originally portrayed, and the false imprisonment of the accused a second tragedy), fascinating, and beautifully filmed. On the downside, it is a bit long, and while it does a good job at suggesting who might have actually committed the crime, one can feel a bit uneasy about making such charges in a film like this (although one can also note that the authorities seemingly have no interest in re-investigating the case). More than anything else, the film is an interesting (and scary) look into the life of the American poor, a long way from the glitz of Manhattan. For many of the people we see in this movie, life would have been a hard, tough grind, even without the terrible events displayed. When one of the three accused finally gets out of prison, he tells us he isn't going back to Arkansas; and one doesn't feel like blaming him.