Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
Lifetime | Release Date: January 25, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
3
Negative:
3

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
NewsdayDiane WertsJan 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Lizzie Borden takes an ax to many assumptions--including the one that Lifetime movies aren't worth watching. Read full review
80
Kansas City StarSara SmithJan 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Sometimes slasher flick, sometimes courtroom drama, this Lizzie is a cynically dark, shamefully fun account of an all-American crime. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklJan 21, 2014
Season 1 Review: Christina Ricci does a haunting turn as notorious hatchet swinger Lizzie Borden. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterAllison KeeneJan 23, 2014
Season 1 Review: Lizzie Borden Took An Ax: Christina Ricci gave some whacks; and when it all was said and done, it was in fact quite creepy fun. Read full review
67
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardJan 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: After hewing reasonably close to the record, at least for the trial, the film goes off the rails in its postscript. Read full review
63
New York PostMichael StarrJan 21, 2014
Season 1 Review: [Ricci] doesn’t add much depth here to her TV portrayal of Lizzie, a rebellious sort (she steals from her stepmother and barks at her strict father) living in a stifling, emotionless house with her sister, Emma. Blame some of that on the movie’s writing. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubPhil Dyess-NugentJan 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: It’s just a period horror story starring Wednesday Addams as the high-strung monster from the playground jumping-rope rhyme, with costumes and furnishings (and a general lack of extras) that suggest a high-school play. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryJan 22, 2014
Season 1 Review: Oddly constructed, Lifetime’s latest attempt to produce TV movies with more edge isn’t exactly razor-sharp, but strictly based on its camp factor, Lizzie should get the job done. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyJan 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: The movie itself apparently isn’t sure the murders themselves are lurid enough. So it adds a few things that didn’t happen, plus some 21st-century music. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraJan 27, 2014
Season 1 Review: Both actors [Gregg Henry and Billy Campbell] do their level best, as does Clea DuVall as Lizzie's dubious but loyal sister Emma. But they all seem to be participating in a very different movie from Ricci, who flounces, flops and smiles knowingly but offers no insight against the pounding backbeat, like a CW heroine slumming it on Lifetime. Read full review
30
Washington PostHank StueverJan 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: Rather than interest you in Lizzie Borden’s chapter in the history of American criminal justice, the movie makes it all seem hollow and unworthy of persisting in cultural memory for as long as it has. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushJan 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: An utterly pedestrian docudrama that never lives up to its campy billing. Read full review
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