News

Acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger is hoping that his new Netflix docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBent Ramsey will clear the Ramsey family name. Berlinger's series focuses on the unsolved murder of child beauty pageant queen JonBent Ramsey. On December 26, 1996, JonBent was reported missing by her parents, and her body was later found in the family's basement. The infamous case drew plenty of media and public speculation, with many believing that JonBent's parents, John and Patsy, were complicit in her murder.

Patsy and John were never tried for their daughter's death and were formally cleared in 2008 by then-Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy, who issued a letter exonerating them based on new DNA evidence. But that hasn't stopped public scrutiny. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Berlinger shares that, through the new series, he wants "to give that family a measure of justice."

"Obviously, the Ramseys are not wrongfully convicted they were never tried.

Click here to read the full article.

While politicians debate the rise of crime, there’s no debate that there’s been an explosion of true-crime documentary series on cable TV and the streamers. Interviews with serial killers, re-creations of bloody murders, combative-courtroom footage and carefully orchestrated eleventh-hour revelations have almost become cliché — even as viewers eagerly tune in for more.

But that was not always the case. Thirty years ago, documentarian Joe Berlinger, 61, and his longtime collaborator and co-director, the late Bruce Sinofsky, broke new ground with their feature, Brother’s Keeper. That film centered on the arrest and trial of a rural upstate New York man named Delbert Ward, who was accused of killing his brother William, and it became a blueprint for Berlinger’s unfiltered examinations of American tragedies with all the drama of fictional narratives.

Joe Berlinger

Brother’s Keeper won the audience award at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival,...

This article contains Stranger Things spoilers.

The Duffer Brothers may be the master storytellers behind the fictional tale of Stranger Things, but they also admit to taking inspiration from real life conspiracies and true crime stories. While longtime fans of the show may already know about the Montauk Project origins of the Hawkins Lab, some may not be aware that the tragically misplaced suspicion that Eddie Munson was under is also based on actual events in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993.

The West Memphis Three were three teenagers who were accused of murdering three eight-year-old boys in what was presented to the press as a Satanic sacrifice. Heavy metal music of the type Eddie Munson would have undoubtedly enjoyed was mistaken for “the devil’s music” by police investigators at the time. Despite a lack of evidence, West Memphis residents and the authorities were quick to accuse the metal-loving, long-haired teenagers...

On May 5, 1993, Mark Byers reported his son Christopher, who was last seen riding bikes with his friends Stevie Branch and Michael Moore, as missing. The West Memphis, Arkansas, police found the bodies of the three 8-year-old boys near a wooded area known as Robin Hood Hills. The crime became part of the “Satanic Panic” which had gripped the nation. Investigation Discovery will air a three-hour special event on the small-town murders. The West Memphis Three: An ID Murder Mystery will premiere Sunday, April 5 at 9 p.m.

“Even now, the case of the West Memphis Three still lingers as many questions remain unanswered, and confusion looms over a mystery that fueled America’s Satanic Panic,” Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, American Heroes Channel and Destination America, said in a statement. “As speculation continues to haunt the case, this installment of the ID Murder Mystery franchise gives an...

Catherine Pearson Feb 22, 2017

Documentary fans are well served by these 11 great documentary series and features, currently available on Netflix UK...

In recent years, even months, Netflix has upped its game. No longer just a site to instantly stream an old title you might have once picked up in Blockbuster, it's become a hub of quality new and original film and television and this is by no means limited to its vast selection of fiction.

See related The world of the Peaky Blinders

With the scope of possibility in visual effects and the boundlessness of imagination there are very few places we cannot explore in fiction nowadays… that is unless we explore stories that are stranger than fiction. There is a tangible thirst for the real; the overwhelming response to recent Netflix documentary Making A Murderer in the news and social media, as just one example, exposes the desire for and...

Making a Murderer, Netflix's original true-crime series captivated the country this Christmas, with critics hailing it as the next Serial-esque obsession.

Online sleuths are already positing their own theories as to who killed young photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. We'll leave the question of whether Steven Avery – a man who already served prison time once before for a gruesome crime he didn't commit – to the meticulous Redditors poring over the infamous case. Though Making a Murder has already been compared to HBO's Robert Durst miniseries The Jinx, here are three more true tales dealing with police corruption, wrongful convictions and crimes...

Bruce Sinofsky, one-half of the Emmy Award-winning documentarian team behind films like Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and the West Memphis Three trilogy Paradise Lost, passed away in his sleep Saturday morning following complications from diabetes, his filmmaking partner Joe Berlinger told Variety. He was 58.

"[Sinofsky's] unique combination of courage and empathy made that possible, as well as everything that came after for us," Berlinger told Variety. "The extraordinary adventures we had on the road and the deeply stimulating experiences we had in the editing room were life-changing for all of...

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

Nick Broomfield’s Tales of the Grim Sleeper follows the case of the serial killer in South Central Los Angeles that spans more than 20 years. The first murder took place in 1985, but an apparent 14-year break between murders earned him the nickname of “the Grim Sleeper.” Lonnie Franklin Jr. was arrested in 2010 and is currently awaiting trial for almost a dozen women, though the number could increase. Though the case is a major part of the film, Broomfield also explores poverty, racism and the police investigation that failed to warn the neighborhood that a serial killer was suspected until 2008.

The film made the Academy’s documentary feature shortlist and could land a nomination at the 87th Academy Awards. Here are seven other documentaries about murder in America that scored nominations (in chronological order):

Four Days in November (1964)

Released just a year after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination,...

Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of May's Indie Film Month. "Devil's Knot" is currently available to view On Demand. In 1994, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin were convicted of the murder of three young boys in what was labelled a Satanic ritual. The trio became known as the West Memphis Three. Multiple documentaries have been made about the tragic incident, including Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's "Paradise Lost" series. Atom Egoyan's "Devil's Knot" is a fictional representation of the case focusing on a West Memphis Three lawyer played by Colin Firth. In this exclusive look at the film, Firth is confronted by his ex-wife, played by Amy Ryan, about whether or not he should take on the case.  After checking out the clip below, head on over to iTunes to check out Indiewire's interview...

The 1993 murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, has been explored time and time again, in documentaries like HBO’s Paradise Lost trilogy and Peter Jackson’s West of Memphis, but pop culture can’t seem to leave the sensational case alone. The question of whether Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were actually guilty of the savage crimes seems to destined never to be definitively answered, though most films about the case have emphasized how tenuous links between the trio and the murders actually were.

Devil’s Knot, Atom Egoyan’s dramatization of the investigation and subsequent trials, features bankable Hollywood stars like Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon, and that star power makes this retelling more likely to appeal to the masses than the documentary coverage. That’s why it’s so unfortunate that Egoyan never manages to do right by his powerful source material.

The West Memphis Three case was the subject of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s much-lauded Paradise Lost trilogy (1996, 2000, 2011), as well as Amy Berg’s 2012 West of Memphis. Each documentary chronicled the ongoing evolution of a uniquely American tragedy: the wrongful convictions of three teenage outcasts in the grotesque slayings of three eight-year-olds in West Memphis, Ark on May 5th, 1993. In Devil’s Knot, Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s fictionalized retelling of the events, the teenagers who stand accused — Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), Damien Echols (James Hamrick), and Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Kris Higgins) — are clearly railroaded by local law […]...

The West Memphis Three case was the subject of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s much-lauded Paradise Lost trilogy (1996, 2000, 2011), as well as Amy Berg’s 2012 West of Memphis. Each documentary chronicled the ongoing evolution of a uniquely American tragedy: the wrongful convictions of three teenage outcasts in the grotesque slayings of three eight-year-olds in West Memphis, Ark on May 5th, 1993. In Devil’s Knot, Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s fictionalized retelling of the events, the teenagers who stand accused — Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), Damien Echols (James Hamrick), and Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Kris Higgins) — are clearly railroaded by local law […]...

Atom Egoyan is all over the real-life case of American injustice surrounding the West Memphis Three. But sadly, I’m not sure why. I’m “biast” (pro): I’ve been following the real-life story depicted here for many years; love the cast and director

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Atom Egoyan, who is a pretty amazing filmmaker — his The Sweet Hereafter must be one of the saddest, wisest movies ever made — is all over the case of the West Memphis Three… and, sadly, I’m not sure why. The real-life story is already a notorious modern anti-classic of American injustice, thanks to an ongoing online campaign and four documentaries — Paradise Lost trilogy and the recent West of Memphis — devoted to the plight of the three men who, as teens, were convicted of the supposedly Satanic murders of three little...

It has been twenty years since the horrifically mutilated, murdered bodies of children Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were found in a creek in the middle of Robin Hood Hills in Arkansas. And thus started a saga that spanned nearly two decades, with the trials of the accused Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin gaining national attention, which eventually turned to outrage. Chronicled in great detail via the 'Paradise Lost' trilogy of documentaries as well as Amy Berg's "West Of Memphis," the case of the West Memphis Three soon became one of justice denied, not only to the three young men, but also the victims whose real killer or killers is still unidentified. A controversial Alford Plea agreed to by the trio of boys in 2011 has effectively closed the case, and nearly every angle of the investigation from paths taken to those unexplored has been scrutinized.

At their worst, the four documentaries that have examined the tragic case of the West Memphis Three have felt like the work of master ironists. Telling the story of three Arkansas teens convicted of child murders just because two of them wore black and had an interest in the occult, the filmmakers have again and again fought against the very public railroading of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley by holding up other West Memphis, Arkansas, misfits as likelier culprits, in effect riposting the small town presumption that outcast kids must be wicked with the coastal presumption that one of those self-righteous rednecks must be. All credit is due to the filmmakers for fighting for these kids, ultimately helping free them from prison and, in Echols's case, death row. But ...

Jason Baldwin had already been in prison for several years when his friend Mojo shook him awake at 2:30 one morning. "My first thought was, 'I hope he's not taking me for an escape, because I don't want to get killed,'" Baldwin recalls. Instead, Mojo led him without explanation to the visitors' room, where he bought Baldwin a Mountain Dew and a microwave burrito and planted him in front of a television. "He didn't tell me what the movie was," says Baldwin, "but when he pushed play, it was Paradise Lost," the landmark 1996 documentary that introduced audiences to the West Memphis Three, three teenagers — Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and, of course, Baldwin himself — wrongly convicted of murdering three eight-year-old boys.

"I remember Mojo jumped...

As the tagline from the latest Atom Egoyan film, Devil's Knot (review), states, “They say the crimes were satanic. The truth may be scarier.” Based on the convictions of the men accused of the "West Memphis Three" murders, it focuses on the families and legal aspects of the case.

We recently chatted with director Egoyan about how he became involved in the project, which describes how Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin, and Damien Echols (aka the West Memphis Three) were exonerated and released after serving nearly 20 years in prison.

He also touched on why he chose to focus on some lesser known principals from the case, the challenges of bringing this story to the screen, what he learned about the U.S. justice system while making the film, and more.

Dread Central: So, how did you first become aware of the West Memphis Three story, and what was it about...

The men known as the West Memphis Three were convicted as teenagers in 1994 of the heinous murders of three little boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Jason Baldwin, who’s interviewed here, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Jessie Misskelley, Jr., received a sentence of life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and the so-called ringleader, Damien Echols, was given the death penalty.

During the trial the prosecution declared that the children were slain as part of a Satanic ritual. A number of documentaries have been based on the case, and celebrities, filmmakers, and musicians have spoken out in the belief that they are innocent. Finally, in 2010, the trio were released after striking an unusual legal deal.

And now, there’s a Hollywood movie, Devil's Knot (review). It’s directed by Atom Egoyan and stars Academy Award winners Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon.

Dread Central: One wonders… as someone who lived the story,...

The true story of the West Memphis Three has been told many times in many different forms, notably the trio of documentaries from filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, who helped shed light on the miscarriage of justice that convicted three Arkansas teenagers for the ritual killing of three young boys in 1993.

On May 9, the haunting tale comes to theaters and digital home video with Devil’s Knot, Atom Egoyan’s star-studded feature with Reese Witherspoon as the mother of one of the murdered boys and Colin Firth as the investigator who senses that the truth had been lost in...

Image Entertainment is bringing The Devil's Knot to us on May 9th, and right now we have several new images for you cats with a penchant for true crime cases. Guilty? Innocent? Give us your take on who committed these heinous crimes.

Synopsis:

From Academy Award nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and starring Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), comes the true story of a crime that would grip a nation for almost two decades and that continues to be one of the most high-profile trials of all time. Based on the bestseller by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot recounts the trial and conviction of teenagers Damien Echols; Jessie Misskelley, Jr.; and Jason Baldwin in the savage murder of three 8-year-old boys in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993.

Dubbed the so-called "West Memphis Three," the defendants,...

The West Memphis Three are three men who were tried and convicted as teenagers in 1994 for the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the children were killed as part of a satanic ritual. A number of documenta…...

This might be tough movie to watch. Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth star in the "Devil's Knot" based off of Mara Leveritt's book, by the same title, which follows the true story of the infamous West Memphis Three. In 1993, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were convicted of killing three young boys in Arkansas as part of a satanic ritual.  The teens later became known as the West Memphis Three ... but were eventually released after being wrongly charged in 2011. In the flick, Reese stars as the grieving mother, Pam Hobbs, who's 8-year-old son was one of the mysteriously murdered boys. Firth plays the private investigator, Ron Lax, who's not convinced that teenagers were responsible for the brutal crimes. There's been a ton of controversy around the trial, and stars like Peter Jackson, Natalie Maines and Johnny Depp are just a few of the celebs who've involved themselves in the case,...

The new trailer for Devil's Knot has been released and, given the subject matter, it can definitely be difficult to watch. Based on Mara Leveritt's best-selling book of the same name, the film follows the true story of three teenagers—Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr.—who became known as the West Memphis Three after they were accused and convicted of killing three young boys in Arkansas in 1993. The movie, however, puts the spotlight on the grieving mother (played by Reese Witherspoon) of one of the murdered boys, as well as a private investigator (portrayed by Colin Firth) who is not convinced the convicted teens are guilty of the crime. In 2011, the Memphis Three...

This is the second trailer for the Atom Egoyan-directed film The Devil's Knot, which stars Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon. The movie tells the true story Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, who were wrongly convicted for the May 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark. 18 years later they were finally released from prison. I've been following their story for years. There have been a series of documentaries made about this terrible tragedy, but a lot more people will hear about it with the release of this movie.

The film also stars Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Stephen Moyer, and Amy Ryan. Here's the detailed synopsis.

Atom Egoyan dramatizes the fallout from the notorious 1993 West Memphis murders, focusing on the grieving mother (Reese Witherspoon) of one of the murdered boys as she grows increasingly troubled by the lynch-mob fever that grips the town.

Image Entertainment is bringing The Devil's Knot to us on May 9th, and right now we have the full trailer for you cats with a penchant for true crime cases. Lord knows they rarely come as compelling as the story surrounding the West Memphis 3.

Synopsis:

From Academy Award nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and starring Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), comes the true story of a crime that would grip a nation for almost two decades and that continues to be one of the most high-profile trials of all time. Based on the bestseller by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot recounts the trial and conviction of teenagers Damien Echols; Jessie Misskelley, Jr.; and Jason Baldwin in the savage murder of three 8-year-old boys in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993.

Dubbed the so-called "West Memphis Three,...

Image Entertainment has released the second trailer for the upcoming true story adaptation Devil's Knot, following the trailer released in November by the film's Canadian distributor, Remstar Films. Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth star in this adaptation of Mara Leveritt's book which chronicles the true story of the infamous West Memphis Three murder case, where three young men - Damien Wayne Echols, Jessie Miskelly, and Jason Baldwin were wrongfully convicted of murdering three eight-year-old boys in Memphis, Arkansas. Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand and Amy Ryan co-star in director Atom Egoyan's adaptation, arriving in theaters May 9 from Image Entertainment.

Based on the true crime book, Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot tells the compelling story of three teenagers accused of the brutal 1993 murder of three 8-year old boys in Memphis, Ark. - two of them sentenced to...

With one trailer already out there for Devil’s Knot, Atom Egoyan’s dramatized take on the West Memphis Three case, Apple is debuting a second, which features some new footage.The West Memphis Three are Jessie Misskelley (Kristopher Higgins), Damien Echols (James Hamrick) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), who were accused of murdering three eight-year-old cub scouts in a satanic ritual in 1993. Subsequent investigations, not least in Joe Berlinger's Paradise Lost films, demolished the original "case", and the consensus now is that moral panic convicted them rather than anything in the way of evidence.While the three are now free, the Arkansas judge responsible stopped short of actually overturning their convictions, meaning that local law enforcement officials have not had to admit to or apologise for their egregious original work, and that Echols in particular is entitled to no compensation for his 17 years spent on Death Row.Scott Derrickson...

"What if they did itc" "What if they didn'tc" Oh man, now that's deep. A new trailer for Devil's Knot, which Image Entertainment ponied up some cash to purchase and distribute for some reason, has arrived and it pretty much sums up the entire movie, not that there is much to sum up. If you know the story of the West Memphis Three then you probably know more than the whole of Devil's Knot. Directed by Atom Egoyan with a screenplay by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson, the film stars Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon and tells the story of three children that were murdered in Arkansas and the three boys charged with the crime. As I noted in my review from the Toronto Film Festival last September, this is the "Cliff's Notes version of the events that lead up to the conviction of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr.

It's rare when a film adaptation lives up the book it was based on so with that in mind I have compiled a list of 40 books that have been adapted for the big screen that we can expect to see in theaters this year. This includes two books from Gillian Flynn, young adult adaptations of work by Veronica Roth, Suzanne Collins and James Dashner, a short story from Dennis Lehane, a Nick Hornby adaptation, and an adaptation written by Nick Hornby, a new John le Carre adaptation and a prequel to the stories written by Tom Clancy as well as a couple comics and graphic novel adaptations from the likes of Frank Miller and Hiroshi Sakurazaka and Alexander O. Smith. I've added everything I could think of and while I'm sure I missed a few, please forgive me and hopefully you'll find something that appeals to your taste on the list.

The West Memphis Three are three men who were tried and convicted as teenagers in 1994 for the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the children were killed as part of a satanic ritual. A number of documenta…...

Yesterday we got a look at the official poster for Devil's Knot, and today we have the first trailer to share. Image is releasing the film in the Us sometime in 2014; stay tuned for an exact date.

Synopsis:

From Academy Award nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and starring Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), comes the true story of a crime that would grip a nation for almost two decades and that continues to be one of the most high-profile trials of all time.

Based on the bestseller by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot recounts the trial and conviction of teenagers Damien Echols; Jessie Misskelley, Jr.; and Jason Baldwin in the savage murder of three 8-year-old boys in the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993.

Dubbed the so-called "West Memphis Three," the defendants, each of them a social outsider,...

What happened to eight-year-old Arkansas natives, Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers is pure nightmare fuel. Sparing the ghoulish details, the three young friends went missing on May 5th, 1993. The following afternoon, an abandoned boy's sneaker was found floating in a creek in the Robin Hood Hills of West Memphis. This led police to the boys' naked and mutilated bodies in a ditch. It was a discovery that caused untold grief and outrage in the surrounding community. Suspicion soon fell on three teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. And this is the beginning of The Devil's Knot. Vulture has unveiled the first trailer for the film based on the non-fiction book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three. With a screenplay by Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman, director Atom Egoyan looks to investigate the controversial trial that brought rumor, prejudice and...

The first trailer has been released for the West Memphis Three film, Devil's Knot. The movie tells the true story Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, who were wrongly convicted for the May 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark. 18 years later they were finally released from prison. I've been following their story for years. There has been a series of documentaries made about the story, and now we have this feature film.

The movie was directed by Atom Egoyan, and it stars Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Stephen Moyer, and Amy Ryan. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was met with mixed reviews, but it looks to me like it's going to be a solid film. Here's the detailed synopsis.

Atom Egoyan dramatizes the fallout from the notorious 1993 West Memphis murders, focusing on the...

Image Entertainment is bringing The Devil's Knot to us in 2014, and while we wait they've gone ahead and supplied us with a poster to help keep the movie in our consciousness for just a little while longer.

Although I have to wonder how many more West Memphis Three stories we need, I have to admit I am interested in seeing this - if only because of the great talent involved in front of and behind the camera.

Synopsis:

From Academy Award nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and starring Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), comes the true story of a crime that would grip a nation for almost two decades and that continues to be one of the most high-profile trials of all time. Based on the bestseller by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot recounts the trial and...

The international trailer for Atom Egoyan’s West Memphis 3 movie “Devil’s Knot” is now available online. Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth star in the true crime drama, which premiered in Toronto and was acquired by Image Entertainment. Image has not released a domestic trailer yet. Based on Mara Leveritt’s true crime book “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” story follows three teenagers accused of the brutal 1993 murder of three 8-year old boys in Arkansas. Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were sentenced to life in prison, while Damien Echols was sentenced to death. The film explores the lives.

You may already know the awful story of the wrongfully convicted West Memphis Three from Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's excellent trilogy of Paradise Lost documentaries. Also in the works for the last couple of years, however, has been Atom Egoyan's dramatisation of those events, Devil's Knot, and here is the first trailer, along with a poster. Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth are the big names in the cast, along with Egoyan regular Elias Koteas.The West Memphis Three are Jessie Misskelley (Kristopher Higgins), Damien Echols (James Hamrick) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), who were accused of murdering three eight-year-old cub scouts in a satanic ritual in 1993. Subsequent investigations, not least in the Paradise Lost films, demolished the original "case", and the consensus now is that moral panic convicted them rather than anything in the way of evidence.While the three are now free, the Arkansas judge responsible...

The first trailer and poster for Atom Egoyan's Devil's Knot arrived online today, a film that was picked up by Image Entertainment out of the Toronto Film Festival where I was able to see it, but wasn't at all moved. In fact, my "D" review may have been a little kind given how empty and generic the film actually is. Based on the well-known story of the West Memphis Three the film tells the story of the three teens arrested and charged with killing three children in a small Arkansas town. As I said in my review, the film just beats around the bush, and tells "a dramatized interpretation of the story that is nothing more than a Cliff's Notes version of the events that lead up to the conviction of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. and Jason Baldwin rather than the 18 years that followed, which are tidily addressed...

While we all wait patiently here in the States for Image Entertainment to release The Devil's Knot, the flick is currently at Afm looking for foreign sales to sweep it up. As a result a new synopsis is here that sheds a bit more light on the proceedings.

Don't ever say we're not thorough.

Synopsis:

From Academy Award nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) and starring Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), comes the true story of a crime that would grip a nation for almost two decades and that continues to be one of the most high-profile trials of all time. Based on the bestseller by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot recounts the trial and conviction of teenagers Damien Echols; Jessie Misskelley, Jr.; and Jason Baldwin in the savage murder of three 8-year-old boys in the small town of West Memphis,...

Image Entertainment, an Rlj Entertainment brand, has acquired Worldview Entertainment's crime thriller Devil's Knot following its world premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Academy Award nominated Director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), the film stars Academy Award winners Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) as well as Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone), Golden Globe nominee Mireille Enos (The Killing) and Stephen Moyer (HBO's True Blood). Devil's Knot is scheduled for a Q2 2014 release. The announcement was made today by Image Entertainment's Chief Acquisition Officer, Bill Bromiley, who made the following statement..

"Reese Witherspoon delivers a stellar, emotional performance, displaying her versatility by transforming herself as a vulnerable mother trying to make sense of her son's death. Her commitment to the role was exceptional, proving once again why she is one of Hollywood's best leading actors."

Based on the true crime book,...

Variety is reporting that Image Entertainment has scooped up the distribution rights to Atom Egoyan’s crime thriller Devil’s Knot. Image, a division of Maryland-based Rlj Entertainment, plans to release the film next year in the second quarter.

Synopsis:

Worldview Entertainment's dramatic crime thriller Devil's Knot, filmed in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, area under the direction of Atom Egoyan, stars Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth with a screenplay by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson. Elizabeth Fowler, Richard Saperstein, and Clark Peterson produced Devil’s Knot alongside Worldview Entertainment CEO Christopher Woodrow. Worldview’s Molly Conners, Sarah Johnson Redlich, Maria Cestone, and Hoyt David Morgan executive produced alongside actual defendants Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. Devil’s Knot is a Fowler-Saperstein-Peterson Production.

Following the release from prison of the West Memphis Three, after nearly 20 years of incarceration, Hollywood was abuzz with plans to develop the teen trio's...

Devil’s Knot, a docudrama about the tangled and still-loaded West Memphis Three case, directed by Atom Egoyan, is for the most part a tense and absorbing movie. It’s the intelligent, detail-jammed, well-executed version of what we used to call “a TV movie” — a phrase you can’t really use anymore, since it once connoted a certain second-rate, connect-the-dots Madame Tussauds biopic quality that’s become irrelevant in the age of HBO. (There was never a “TV movie” like Behind the Candelabra or Recount.) Yet that term also summoned up the basic, childlike voyeuristic appeal of seeing interesting actors...

Director Atom Egoyan brought his new film, Devil’s Knot, to the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Telling the now almost legendary story of the West Memphis Three, the film serves as a dramatization of the events and boasts a star studded cast, with big Hollywood names like Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Dane DeHaan, Stephen Moyer and more all showing up in roles.

For those who are unaware, Devil’s Knot tells the story of the heinous murder of three young boys in Arkansas in 1993 and the subsequent trial and conviction of 17 year old Jessie Misskelley, 16 year old Jason Baldwin and 18 year old Damien Echols, aka the West Memphis Three.

A couple days ago I was lucky enough to catch up with Mr. Egoyan for a lengthy, 1 on 1 discussion about his new film. Though I didn’t love Devil’s Knot, I very much enjoyed speaking with Atom as...

If you've been paying even the slightest bit of attention you are well familiar with the story of the West Memphis Three. Whether you saw the trilogy of Paradise Lost documentaries, West of Memphis or any number of specials on news programs such as "60 Minutes", the story of the three Arkansas teenagers convicted of killing three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 has been well publicized in recent years, primarily due to the shoddy police work and subsequent trial that eventually saw all three boys freed from jail in 2011 after being locked up for 18 years. Now, in the wake of all the coverage the story has already received, director Atom Egoyan brings us Devil's Knot, a dramatized interpretation of the story that is nothing more than a Cliff's Notes version of the events that lead up to the conviction of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. and Jason Baldwin rather than the 18 years that followed,...

The injustice perpetrated against The West Memphis Three—three teenagers who in 1994 were wrongly convicted of the brutal slayings of three young boys in Memphis, Arkansas—was powerfully revealed in the 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. Directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky proceed to keep interest in the case alive with their two sequels, and the accused were finally released from jail in 2011. Berlinger and Sinofsky did the hard work and compelling filmmaking that captured the drama and tragedy of the case. Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot takes that hard work and turns it into a based-on-true-events movie that’s not only pointless, but also exploitative and disrespectful. In 1993, three eight-year-old boys—Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—were found dead, stripped naked, and mutilated in Devil’s Den in Robin Hood Hills. The police, frantic to quickly close the case due to public outrage over the crime,...

It has been twenty years since the horrifically mutilated, murdered bodies of children Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were found in a creek in the middle of Robin Hood Hills in Arkansas. And thus started a saga that spanned nearly two decades, with the trials of the accused Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin gaining national attention, which eventually turned to outrage. Chronicled in great detail via the 'Paradise Lost' trilogy of documentaries as well as Amy Berg's "West Of Memphis," the case of the West Memphis Three soon became one of justice denied, not only to the three young men, but also the victims whose real killer or killers is still unidentified. A controversial Alford Plea agreed to by the trio of boys in 2011 has effectively closed the case, and nearly every angle of the investigation from paths taken to those unexplored has been scrutinized.

Where the Truth Weakly Lies; West Memphis Less Effective in Non-Docu Treatment

Atom Egoyan has carved a career out of films focused on misunderstood and alienated outsiders, whose personal truths are often murky. The case of the infamous West Memphis Three (exhaustively explored in a number of documentaries, including last year’s festival selection “West of Memphis“) would naturally be a draw for Egoyan thematically. However, instead of expounding on where the truth lies (if you will), this somewhat fictionalized narrative remains dead in the turgid water.

Based in part on Mara Leveritt’s case study ‘Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three’, the film follows private investigator Ron Lax (Colin Firth) and his attempt to uncover the questionable hidden pieces in the local Memphis Arkansas Police’s case against Damien Echols (James Hamrick), Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Kristopher Higgins) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), the three...

Here's our first look at Colin Firth in the film Devil's Knot, which is based on the true story of the West Memphis 3. 

Here's a little background information on the story for those of you not familiar. Back in 1993, Damien Echols, 36, Jason Baldwin, 34, and Jessie Misskelley, 36 were wrongly convicted for the May 1993 killings of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark. After 18 years they were finally released from prison.

Firth will play Ron Lax, "a private investigator who was the first pro bono supporter of the defendents as they headed to trial in 1993. Lax built one of the most prominent private investigative firms in the Southeast, and offered his services for free to the defendants, who at the time were reviled because of the heinous nature of the crime and the sensationalized reports about devil worship and ritualistic sacrifice. All of that was later proven to be unfounded, after Echols,...

Oscar winner Colin Firth turns private detective in Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s new fact-based drama Devil’s Knot, which premieres at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 8. Firth stars with Reese Witherspoon, Amy Ryan, Dane DeHaan, Stephen Moyer, and Mireille Enos in the film, which is based on the notorious case of three heavy-metal-loving teenagers from West Memphis, Ark., who were convicted of the 1993 murder of three 8-year-old boys despite a lack of evidence. The so-called West Memphis Three became the subject of Paradise Lost, a series of three award-winning documentaries by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, as well...

We are now officially half way through the year and so I’ve asked our staff to vote for their favourite films released thus far. Hollywood blockbusters may have disappointed us, but thankfully we can always rely on independent filmmakers to create some truly inspiring films. Rounding out the special mentions is Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, and Cate Shortland’s Lore – all missing the cut by a couple of points.

****

#15: Iron Man 3 (24 points)

Directed by Shane Black

Written by Drew Pearce & Shane Black

USA, 2013

Fun has become a slightly forgotten commodity in the summer blockbuster, with many studios and filmmakers now inspired by the efforts of directors like Christopher Nolan to be as grim as possible. The modern superhero often has to be angst-ridden or otherwise mentally scarred to make an impact on audiences, so it’s a pleasant surprise...

★★★☆☆ Amy Berg's sobering polemic West of Memphis (2012) shines a light on the failings of the American criminal justice system through the campaign to free a trio of wrongly convicted men after almost twenty years in prison. Having premièred at last year's Sundance Film Festival, West of Memphis was released to wide acclaim and now arrives on DVD from Sony Pictures. Following in the footsteps of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's Paradise Lost trilogy, which presented ongoing events throughout the ordeal, Berg's film examines the case from original crime and throughout the fight to have the three men released.

One May evening in 1993, a horrific triple homicide was committed in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three young boys was brutally murdered and within a month, a trio of teenagers were charged with one providing a lengthy, though clearly led, confession. The crimes were said to have been satanic in nature due...