The Lizzie Borden Game

Lizzie Borden was an American woman who was tried and acquitted for the brutal murder of her father in stepmother in Massachusetts in 1892. A gruesome grizzly double homicide by axe which would make a good story....

...unfortunately not here in The Lizzie Borden Game.

Borden has been immortalised as a folk tale and legend in America, with a rhyme which goes:

Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks.

When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

Ryan Murphy is about to feature Lizzie in Season 4 of his Netflix series "Monster" and bring Borden to a much wider audience.

Unfortunately, this film will not do any of that. Here we have a group of friends who go to stay in a secluded castle for a "Friendsgiving" weekend. One of the girls who tags along, Emily (Airisa Durand), had her parents tragically murdered years before after she played The Lizzie Borden Game. This is essentially a game of Bloody Mary/Candyman where you say the rhyme into a mirror and she appears and you have to "close the portal" before she can start causing carnage. Naturally when she was younger, she didn't and her parents died....so I am not entirely sure why she would decide it was a good time to do it again whilst on this mini-break with her friends. At no point did she want to say "actually guys, ya know, the last time I did this, my parents died a horrible death so, maybe, erm....lets just watch a film instead!".

Naturally they summon Lizzie and they all start being hacked to death one by one in gruesome ways, all of which are done by Axe, so after the second one it starts to get a little tedious, despite each death being slightly different. One guy is chopped into two, another has her face flayed off as she thrashes around before having her hand lobbed off which continues to move, another is decapitated etc etc...and its all just very mediocre.

What didn't help was the GCSE Drama Class acting which had lines delivered with pure wooden-ness. When people start getting "scared", they just seem to stare off into the distance, eyes widened, thinking it's doing the job when all it's doing is really showing off the bad acting.

Throw in a small backstory too which has the most ridiculous conclusion, leading to a laughable ending which I would have laughed at if I wasn't half-asleep from everything that had come before it.

Ryan Murphy will do the legend of Lizzie Borden justice because Director/Writer/Producer Calvin Morie McCarthy certainly didn't bring anything to the table here.

Following the death of their parents, a group of friends decide to take a trip out to their house for a weekend getaway to understand what's going on, but the more they stay there, they come upon a weird game that summons the spirit of Lizzie Borden, who begins killing them one by one.

Overall, this was a fairly solid and enjoyable genre effort. Among the better elements present here is the strong setup that manages to bring together enough worthwhile factors into a serviceable feature. The gathering of the friends at the remote house to try to figure out what happened to her parents and find the supposed game that introduces them to the actual figure that sets them out on their interactions with the killer after playing it, which soon brings them into the path of the currently-revived killer's spirit, gives this a strong start. It makes the friend group rather fun and likable with the way they make fun and joke around with each other, seem genuinely concerned about their welfare, and are quite fun to be around. That sets the stage for this one to go through a solid enough series of hauntings and slashings involving the resurrected spirit running around killing off all it comes across. The general presentation is as a supernatural spirit, manipulating the world around it to avoid being seen until the last moment or powering others to carry on the fight for it, but it's still rooted firmly enough in traditional genre material to be worthwhile. The opening attack on the couple in the house or the stalking of the one couple who insisted on performing the summoning ceremony gives this a strong bit of stalking powers to go along with the frantic final half that brings about some great chasing and encounters throughout the house. With everything here offering up some exceptionally impressive and graphic practical kills to tie this all together, that's a lot to like here. This one does have a few minor drawbacks that bring it down. The main factor with this one is the sluggish and draining tempo that takes quite a while before it gets to the fun parts. The first half here spends far too much time on the group going through the house, trying to come to terms with the loss of their parents, or getting to know each other, so that it feels dragged out and draining before they play the game and release the spirit. That is the other issue where it makes no real sense from scene to scene, other than for the sake of what's going on, introducing ghostly zombie followers for no reason, acting like a physical being despite being a ghost in others, and offering no real consistency with what's going on. Coupled with an ending that has little that's sensible or logical, these come together to lower this one overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.

This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Lauren from Breaking Glass Pictures. She asked if I was interested in a screener for review. Since I've seen more films from 7th Street Pictures and the last one that I saw from writer/director Calvin Morie McCarthy, I figured that I'd check this out. This also helps add more independent films to my end of year list.

Synopsis: following the tragic and unexplained death of her parents, Emily (Airisa Durand) joins a group of friends during a secluded trip gathering in the woods. The group uncovers an old, eerie children's game known as "The Lizzie Borden Game".

We start this with two little girls playing a game like "Bloody Mary". They have a mirror and they're saying a rhyme. This version that they're playing is the title of the film. Now the older sister is Sophie (Sophia Claire Thompson) and she is scaring Lilly (Daphne Kelly). Their mother comes in to tell them to go to bed. They might have conjured something as they're attacked by a woman with an ax, played by Chynna Rae Shurts.

This then shifts over to another place. Emily lives with her cousin, Shelby (Charlie Dae). She is seeing Kyle (Jason Brooks). Shelby is having a Friendsgiving party and invites Emily. They talk about the disappearance of the two girls and this puts Emily in an odd mood. Her parents have recently died, which has put her in a funk. This is why she's joining the group. It is being hosted at a nearby castle as well.

They are meeting up with another couple, Rupert (Steve Larkin) and Amelia (Laura Ellen Wilson). Everyone settles in and starts having drinks. The disappearance gets brought up, including the game they were playing. It appears that everyone but the couple they met has played it. They decide to spice up the evening with it. It gives them more than they bargained for though. They see in the mirror Lizzie Borden (Shurts). We will flashback to her later, learning the truth about the crime against her parents, Andrew (Doug Sellers) and Abby (Dawn Sellers). Our group forgot to close the portal and now they might be getting stalked by this malevolent force.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is that at the heart of this, we have a supernatural slasher. I've not heard of this variation of the game so I'm not sure if it was made up for the movie. I do love that it gets pointed out that it is "Bloody Mary" or "Candyman", just subbing in a different entity. That is a good touch. Also establishing the lore with Kyle, Shelby and Emily, playing it as kids is good. The other couple confirms knowing one of the other variations so we don't need extra dialogue or scenes. Since this is a slasher, which tends to be slow by its very nature, doing what you can to quickly get characters up to speed helps. Credit for that.

I'll then go ahead and say that for me, slasher films need to either have good characters or kills. The ones with both tend to be classics. Let's start by looking at our group. I'll include acting performances. Brooks is good as this dumb boyfriend. He comes off as a fun guy and someone I'd get along with if I ended up in the situation. I like the fact that Dae and Durand have history. The former wants her friend to have fun. Durand does well in not being a complete drag on the weekend. She's trying but depression isn't an easy thing to shake. I also like Larkin and Wilson as this other couple that joins them. They all bring life to their characters, which is what you need.

Then let's shift over to the events of the past. Something I'll also credit with is taking the real character of Lizzie and then incorporating her in like we do. Her story is famous. Having the foreign couple allows the other characters to explain it. We also see her story play out which I thought was a good touch. Shurts looks so creepy though as Lizzie when she's the specter that is killing. The Sellers work as her parents. Kate Schmidt as Bridget Sullivan is also fine. This group works to fill in the backstory and makes the game build the atmosphere.

I then want to shift over to talk about filmmaking. This does well in capturing this isolated location. I've gone on little trips like this so it feels real. Credit for that. They also know how to frame the kill sequences which helps to hide the seams. What impressed me most here was the effects. They make Lizzie so creepy. Something happens later with another character that did as well. The death scenes were brutal. It did look like they most went practical there which makes me smile. If there was CGI, it would be utilized well and I didn't have issues. Other than that, I thought the soundtrack fit well for what was needed.

In conclusion, this offers a solid entry into the supernatural slasher subgenre, successfully blending the familiar with a unique twist on a classic urban legend. The film benefits from strong character performances that make the victims relatable and impressive practical effects that elevate the death scenes. While embracing the slow-burn nature typical of slashers, it manages to establish its lore effectively and frame its isolated setting well. I would recommend this film to fans of low-budget slasher movies looking for a creepy and entertaining watch.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

I was highly entertained by The Lizzie Borden Game. I do love this indie film for it is horrific, humorous, heartfelt and truly visceral and gorey moments. The creepy scenes and comedic moments are my favorites. I really enjoyed getting to know the lead characters and caring for them as well as feeling empathy for the intro characters. The story unfolds in artistic direction with what feels like it was inspired by classic horror films when cinematography and practical effects help draw you into the world. It does so with said things as well as having a great music score and talented actors. I will be watching this film again. I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy indie films and classic horror movies.