Lizzie Borden Took An Ax – Prequel to the Lizzie Borden Chronicles

Published June 3, 2015 | By RottenOne

It was clear I needed to take a step back. I’d watched the Lizzie Borden Chronicles, but I hadn’t actually watched the Lizzie Borden movie. I’m not sure how I accomplished that, but I’m sure it took a special talent.

The movie came out in 2014 and although I made note of it, I was completely oblivious. Well, that has now been changed and I just finished watching. It’s a fictionalized account of the events that "could" have taken place in the Borden house on that fateful day. It takes some bits and pieces of the real events and weaves a tale of who might have committed the crime and how they might have gotten away with it.

Of course, the whole movie centers of Lizzie. It shows her with a strained relationship to her father and a less than ideal relationship with her step-mother. We sort of get the impression that Lizzie is overshadowed by the new mom and is no longer the center of attention within the family.

As we progress, Lizzie finds the bodies of her parents and then into the investigation we go. Of course, Lizzie is the prime and only suspect in the case. She was home or at least near the house when the murders took place, has a shaky story of her whereabouts and actions and gets a little confused when asked questions about the events.

When confronted about her relationship with her mother, she is quick to point out that Abby is not her mother. We then learn about the gifts the father had made to Abby’s side of the family, leaving his own daughters out of it. We hear about the family troubles, the barrage of axes and weapons in the house, Lizzie’s interest in poison to kill rats around the house, her contradictory testimony, the seeming lack of concern over the deaths and the burning of the dress she was wearing when the murders took place.

From there we get some insight into what "might" have happened. Did Lizzie plot the murders and lie in wait? Did she remove all her clothes then attack her parents so as to conceal the blood? Was she calculating enough to kill the mother first so as to not disturb the line of inheritance? Did she quickly bathe, clean and hide the evidence? Was the burning of the dress a cover up to conceal the blood which might have been mistaken for stew earlier?

Like the series that follows, we see Lizzie more as a plotter in the events rather than a hapless victim of them. We sort of get the impression she was tired of the step mom making off with the cash and took care of business so she could get the Maplecroft estate that she had her eye on.

So we are once again faced with a slew of questions about this murder. They are supposedly able to tell the time of the murders, but yet their evidence collecting is horrific. Lizzie was the only suspect and it seems the police didn’t look very hard for more clues or other suspects. Dozens of people trampled through the house, so no real preservation of the crime scene. And there’s a whole slew of other issues.

On the one hand it seems like Lizzie is in fact the prime suspect, but at the same time she doesn’t really seem up to the task. Was she really that good at covering her tracts? Was the evidence that lacking?

While it may not be award winning, it was still an interesting take on the Lizzie Borden story. It certainly paints Lizzie as the culprit and even in the final moments she whispers "the truth" to her sister. Who knows what was said, but do know that Lizzie and Emma had a failing out a few years later.

If you’re looking to waste some time and have a little morbid fun, this isn’t a bad movie to sit down to. It’s not revealing, nor insightful, but it does offer a couple of interesting bits and of course sets the stage for the Lizzie Borden Chronicles, which I thought was a wicked bit of fun to watch.

Lizzie Borden Took An Ax – Prequel to the Lizzie Borden Chronicles

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