my Movie

Movie Details

Title:   Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
Director:   Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Year:   2000
Genre:   Documentary
Times Seen:   1
Last Seen:   03.18.15

Other Movies Seen By This Director (3)
- Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
- Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Notes History
Date Viewed Venue Note
03.18.15Internet In some respects I wish every great doc had a sequel like this: Going back after a couple years to show not only any follow-up with the subject matter but also how the first film impacted the subjects' lives. However, other aspects of this movie suffer because of inevitable reactions from the first film. The biggest change is the loss of the absolutely insane access that the directors had in the original trial. Not only did they get to film the proceedings but it also seems like they got extended interviews with the whole damn town. We heard from the kids while they were in custody AFTER the verdict! This time around it seems like everyone has wised up and shut their traps which is probably smart for them but unfortunate for us viewers.

So instead the focus shifts to equal weight between the appeal hearings and the one dad with the brain tumor. That's fine because he is an unbelievable character so now we spend the whole movie wondering if he did it. I can see it but only through movie-logic goggles where his tumor sends him into fugue states where his religious fury collides with an abusive upbringing that creates a Killer Bob-esque alter ego that murdered his son and drowned the other two just because they were there. This is a documentary however and not Twin Peaks so... that's a pretty thin scenario.

I don't see how you can get engaged by the first movie and not watch this one though... even though it's not as good it certainly sheds more light on the case and people involved. On to part 3.