In 1893 Massachusetts, Lizzie Andrew Borden is put on trial for murdering her father and stepmother with an axe.In 1893 Massachusetts, Lizzie Andrew Borden is put on trial for murdering her father and stepmother with an axe.In 1893 Massachusetts, Lizzie Andrew Borden is put on trial for murdering her father and stepmother with an axe.
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Elizabeth Montgomery stars as Lizzie Borden, a 19th-century Massachusetts woman who is put on trial for the brutal slaughter of her father and stepmother in their family home. She is accused of hacking up her parents with an axe after carefully removing her clothes to avoid bloodstains. Based on fact and considered shocking at the time for a TV-movie. —alfiehitchie
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Stylish, icy cold examination of a murderess
Atmospheric, rather violent and shocking television-movie from 1975 didn't ignite a great deal of controversy upon its original airing, yet it is still quite potent and scary today (arguably, if made today, it would have to be a cable movie with a strict rating). Elizabeth Montgomery is chilling as Lizzie Borden, an unmarried 32-year old in 1890s Massachusetts, still living at home with her father, sister and stepmother, who wishes she could sleep with one eye open after claiming their house was broken into; soon afterward, her father and stepmother are axed to death in the residence, on an afternoon when only Lizzie and the family maid were present. The courtroom theatrics (including the examination of a too-clean skull) are underwhelming, yet Montgomery is riveting nonetheless, particularly in the well-staged final moments after the verdict is read. Memorably, straightforwardly played out, without a hint of camp.
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- moonspinner55
- Feb 11, 2001
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