Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
| Lizzie Borden Took an Ax | |
|---|---|
Official poster
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| Genre |
Docudrama Slasher Mystery Biopic |
| Written by | Stephen Kay |
| Directed by | Nick Gomez |
| Starring |
Christina Ricci Clea DuVall Billy Campbell |
| Theme music composer | Tree Adams |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Michael Mahoney |
| Cinematography | Steve Cosens |
| Editor(s) | Henk Van Eeghan |
| Running time | 87 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Sony Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Lifetime |
| Original release | January 25, 2014 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Lizzie Borden Chronicles |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax is a 2014 American television biopic about Lizzie Borden, a young American woman tried and acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. It premiered on Lifetime on January 25, 2014. Lead actress Christina Ricci has described the series and its follow-up as being "self-aware, campy, and tongue-in-cheek".
In August 1892, Fall River, Massachusetts Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden comes across the grisly murder scene of her father Andrew, who has been brutally killed with a hatchet. Local law enforcement arrives, also discovering the body of Abby Borden, the stepmother of Lizzie and her older sister Emma. As the case progresses, the evidence seems to point to Lizzie as the prime suspect. Her lawyer, Andrew Jennings, maintains that a woman could not commit such a cruel and gruesome crime. Still, Lizzie is put on trial for the murders, and the case makes headlines in newspapers throughout the country, which call it the most infamous of the century.
Eventually, the jury finds Lizzie innocent of all charges. Despite the acquittal, she has become the town pariah. During a final confrontation between Lizzie and Emma, the former asks her sister if she wants to know the truth. Lizzie then whispers into Emma's ear as a series of flashbacks show Lizzie committing the murders. A visibly upset Emma leaves the room, and eventually, moves out of their home, never seeing Lizzie again. Lizzie walks outside and hears three children jump roping to the famous nursery rhyme: "Lizzie Borden took an axe/She gave her mother forty whacks/When she saw what she had done/She gave her father forty-one."
The teaser trailer featured the time period's popular children's skipping-rope rhyme:
Lizzie Borden took an axe
She gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one.
Lizzie Borden got away
For her crime she did not pay.
In its original January 25, 2014 premiere on the Lifetime network, the film was watched by 4.4 million viewers, making it the night's number-one telecast among all key demographics.
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax received mixed reviews despite praise for Ricci's performance; as of 6 May 2015[update], based on 14 reviews, the film holds a 43% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
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