Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills: History and Key Facts

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is a 1996 American documentary film directed, produced, and edited by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky about the trials of the West Memphis Three, three teenage boys accused of the May 1993 murders and sexual mutilation of three prepubescent boys (Steve Edward Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore) as a part of an alleged satanic ritual in West Memphis, Arkansas.

The film uses the music of Metallica instead of an original soundtrack, the first time that the band authorized their music to be used in a film; the accused teenagers were fans of the band, something which played a part in their trials. It was well received by critics, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming. It was followed by two sequels, also made by Berlinger and Sinofsky, which followed the evolution of the case through the years: Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000), and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011).

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