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Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
In 1892, Lizzie Borden stands trial for the brutal murder of her father and stepmother. Her name will forever live in infamy and the eerie children's rhyme will continue to haunt those that know the story, but the truth is anything but clear.
7 July 1959, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
6 May 1952, Lakewood, Colorado, USA
1942, Alvechurch, Worcestershire, England, UK
1968, Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
May 05, 2014
Lifetime's made-for-TV movie Lizzie Borden Took an Axe covers the events of the murder and ensuing trial, but doesn't really get any deeper into the crime than the schoolyard chant does.April 08, 2014
There's a too-quick and convenient wrap-up to the film, but that's the only real sour note Lizzie Borden Took an Ax hits.January 27, 2014
It's slow and heavy-handed, tedious almost throughout. An average episode of Oxygen's Snapped isn't this dull, and has more interesting things to say about women who kill.January 27, 2014
Lifetime has a knack for attracting top-tier talent for what often ends up being silly little movies, but Lizzie Borden seemed different -- everyone was having a lot of fun without getting too over-the-top campy.January 21, 2014
Lizzie comes across more as a whiny, moody teen than a psychotic murderess, and Ricci is much-too-attractive to play the dowdy, crazy-eyed Lizzie familiar from those faded black-and-white photos (just sayin').January 27, 2014
The movie ends on such a note as to cause the audience to wonder how long it will take before "A," of Pretty Little Liars fame, starts leaving Lizzie Borden an incriminating text or two.January 20, 2014
Christina Ricci does a haunting turn as notorious hatchet swinger Lizzie Borden.January 24, 2014
Lizzie Borden takes an ax to many assumptions -- including the one that Lifetime movies aren't worth watching.May 04, 2014
Included are the trial and all the trimmings. What's missing is the horror of the event. Except for a few shots of dear old daddy's caved-in face, there's not much gore, even for a TV movie.January 27, 2014
The lack of focus, and a protagonist who seemingly can't decide which movie she's in, makes this Lifetime movie a slick but unsatisfying swing and a miss.January 27, 2014
The movie itself apparently isn't sure the murders themselves are lurid enough. So it adds a few things that didn't happen, plus some 21st-century music.January 30, 2014
Brutal murders, courtroom drama in historical drama.