TV Movie Review: Lizzie Borden Took an Ax

Lifetime TV Movie (available on Netflix)
**1/2

Lizzie Borden took an ax,and gave her mother forty wacks/then gave her father forty-one, and left a tragic puzzle... - Amanda Palmer, Ukelele Anthem

I feel like this should've been a movie before this, or if it was, that maybe it should be better known. While the cast in it seems to be carried mostly by Christina Ricci as Lizzie. While it starts with the murders, and goes back to show the tension in the house before the murders...Buzzfeed Unsolved really ruined it for me.

It's still interesting to see her and the dramatization of her life at this point, showing Lizzie to be opportunistic and deceitful when it comes to her family, and especially with some of the things she wants versus what her family has or what others have in their town. Though it might be seen as someone wanting more, the hints of penny-pinching to an extreme, as well as her father and stepmother's actions, also can be seen in a slightly dark light as well. Still, Ricci does a great job of portraying a woman trapped who has either cracked from the pressure or will crack, and showing the way things played out that lead to the disturbing murders double-homicide in the house, as well as the oddness of the accounts and what could have happened.

While there are some discrepancies to the accounts, (again, see the Buzzfeed Unsolved thing), I always like a good period piece and MURDER story, and the build-up to the actual murders is done very well, as is the aftermath and the bloody images, recreated from the crime-scene photos (go look those up, if you dare). The drama beyond it is well done for a made-for-tv movie and how do I always end up with these? Well, at least it's not Syfy movie.
I mean, it's a Lifetime Movie, those have their own issues...

Either way, an interesting thing to watch if you enjoy murder mysteries or period pieces, but overall you're not missing much by avoiding it.