Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014)

Director: Nick Gomez

Cast: Christina Ricci, Clea Duvall, Billy Campbell

Screenplay: Stephen Kay

91 mins. Not Rated by the MPAA.

Do you want to know the story of Lizzie Borden? Good, because this is practically a documentary. Lizzie Borden Took an Ax is the story of, well, Lizzie Borden (Christina Ricci, Sleepy Hollow, The Smurfs 2) and when she, well, takes an ax…to her parents.  Clea Duvall (Argo, Conviction) is Emma, the sister. Billy Campbell (The Rocketeer, Killing Lincoln) is the family’s law representative. The plot is nothing of great merit. Lizzie Borden finds her parents murdered in the upstairs of her home, she goes for help, and then people start believing that she may have been the culprit. Everything about this movie is predictable, down to the title being a major giveaway (granted, I understand that the film is based on true events and most people already know the story enough to put the pieces together. This film is very simplistic, the plotline runs very television movie-ish, which makes sense because it is a Lifetime television movie. The performances are so-so, really nothing special.

All of this film is meh. There is no cinematography. The camera is more nailed down than the sets. The film’s editing allows for commercial breaks, which I have always found to be very meh as well. Really, the reason this film gets a extra point is for detail to the actual events. I looked up actual information after seeing the film, and it was pretty spot on. So, for that, I give Lizzie Borden Took an Ax 2/5.

2/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

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