Review by CJ

Director:
Howard Deutch, Stephen Kay, Constantine Makris, Russell Mulcahy

Writer:
Richard Blaney, Jason Grote, Barbara Nance, David Simkins, Gregory Small

Starring:
Christina Ricci, Clea DuVall, Cole Hauser, Dylan Taylor

Other notable appearances:
Olivia Llewellyn, Jessy Schram, Jonathan Banks, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Chris Bauer, John Heard

Running time:
42-43 minutes

Number of episodes:
8

A fictionalised version of Lizzie (Ricci) and Emma (DuVall) Borden’s lives after the murder trial that threw their family into the spotlight.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles follows the events in Lizzie Borden Took An Axe (2014).

As a fictional show, I found The Lizzie Borden Chronicles to be interesting and entertaining. As much as I enjoyed it, I can certainly see why the series wasn’t renewed for another season. After a few episodes there was very little doubt as to how Lizzie was going to dispatch any problems that she faced.

Christina Ricci is outstanding as the cold and calculating Lizzie Borden. Clea DuVall is fantastic as Lizzie’s sister Emma, the calming influence to Lizzie’s chaotic psychopathy. Most of the rest of the acting is good or below average.

It’s important when watching The Lizzie Borden Chronicles to remember that the show features real people as characters in a very fictional setting. This isn’t a docudrama and basically the only historical accuracy seems to be that Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted for the murder of her father and step-mother.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is a fun, murderous romp through turn of the 20th century Massachusetts. It manages in eight episodes not to feel too long, but any more than that would have been pushing what was quickly becoming a thin concept supported by a tangled web of murders.

I would recommend The Lizzie Borden Chronicles to anyone interested in period dramas with a murderous twist and some gore. If you’re looking for a historically accurate docudrama about the Borden sisters, this isn’t the television show for you.

Rating:

“I’m not afraid of you.”
“Then you haven’t been paying attention.”