The January 25, 2014 airing of Lizzie Borden Took An Ax was watched by over 4,400,000 people! Unfortunately it was broadcast on the Lifetime Channel. The tale is historic. So how bad could it really be? Right?
“On a scorching, hot summer day in 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts, Lizzie Borden returns home to the house she shares with her father Andrew, stepmother Abby and sister Emma. But, unlike any normal day, Lizzie encounters the bloody scene of her parents violently murdered. Police quickly question multiple suspects in town, but evidence keeps pointing back to the Borden’s youngest daughter Lizzie, the seemingly wholesome Sunday school teacher, as the prime suspect. Lizzie’s lawyer, Andrew Jennings, proclaims her innocence arguing that it is inconceivable a woman could commit the heinous crime of brutally murdering her family with an ax. Or is it?”
The film is written by Stephen Kay and directed by Nick Gomez. Cast members include Christina Ricci (The Adams Family, Sleepy Hollow, Cursed), Clea DuVall (The Faculty, Ghosts of Mars, The Grudge), Billy Campbell (Dracula, “The 4400,” “Helix”), Stephen McHattie (“Seinfeld,” Beverly Hills Cop III, Pontypool), Gregg Henry (Star Trek: Insurrection, “Hung,” “The Killing”), Shawn Doyle (Frequency, “Big Love,” “Lost Girl”), and Kristin Howell.
First of all, to some extent I feel that I am a victim of false advertising. Despite being on The Network for Women, I truly felt that Lizzie Borden Took An Ax was going to be an in your face horror film. How can you take an iconic story like Lizzie Borden and not embelish on a couple aspects to make it more disturbing? Well, the film was broken into three parts – the beginning: leading up to and including the murders, the middle: trying to figure out who done it, and the end: the trial. The latter two parts being rather boring. It was a let down as a true horror fan and left me wanting more.
Also, as much as I like Christina Ricci, was I the only one who felt like she looked like a deer in the headlights the entire time? She’s a really good actress, but I feel like this was just not the right role for her. Clea DuVall should have played Lizzie with another actress taking on her role.
The worst part of the movie, from someone who works in horror titles, was the special effects. If someone attacked you and bludgeoned you with ax, then you would be a fucking mess. Tell me why Lizzie’s parents only had little knots and bruises and tiny blood splatters after being chopped – repeatedly – with an ax? I know it was network television, but you can’t tackle a nursery rhyme with “…and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father fourty-one,” and not have things be a little bloodier. If you have the budget to make a feature film and you have the budget to hire such a talented cast of actors, then you have a couple hundred dollars to spare on believable special effects.
Yes, the movie was informative on what happened – minus a few errors – and the acting is well done, but this movie left a lot to be desired. 5 out of 10 stars from me.
