Despite playing fast and free with the facts of the case of Lizzie Borden it is still a very effective film. Although not exactly in the horror genre it oftentimes has that vibe. It is very creepy. I saw this back in the 70's and it became an immediate favourite. As someone who consumed anything remotely scary or horror related this film fit the bill perfectly. Apart from the nursery rhyme about Lizzie giving forty whacks to her mother (step mother actually), then, seeing what she had done, gave her father forty-one. Not historically accurate but it created the legend which has endured until today. It is among the great unsolved murders. The film goes that extra mile to show that she was the killer, although actual evidence was circumstantial and implicated no one suspect. The director does a nice job recreating that time period and the circumstances which might have led Lizzie to commit these crimes. Her father was not very free with his money and lived in conditions that were out of step with the surrounding town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Lizzie and her sister Emma stood to inherit a substantial amount of money when her father died, but would have also been split between the sisters and the step mother. But once both were killed there was only the sisters to profit. This might have been the motive behind the crime. As soon as she came into that inheritance Lizzie immediately moved into a more modern house, but she was never welcomed into the town's higher society. She was assumed guilty by some, but a jury acquitted her for any credible evidence. My own theory is that if she not directly involved she was a participant.
Fun fact: Elizabeth Montgomery is a distant relative to Lizzie. She found this out while making the film or shortly afterwards. Creepy.
Fun fact: Elizabeth Montgomery is a distant relative to Lizzie. She found this out while making the film or shortly afterwards. Creepy.