How Did We All Miss This Movie Based on Lizzie Borden?

On the SouthCoast, we are constantly reminded of the infamous, chilling story of Fall River's Lizzie Borden and the murders of her father and stepmother back in 1892.

From time to time, the world gets the same reminder thanks to Hollywood. There was the made-for-TV Legend of Lizzie Borden starring Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched in 1975, Lizzie Borden Took an Ax starring Christina Ricci on Lifetime in 2014 and Lizzie starring Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart in 2018.

In 2022, the world was reminded of Lizzie’s story yet again thanks to a haunting new tale by Lionsgate Movies.

In case you missed it, and it seems a lot of folks did, The Inhabitant was released in theaters, on digital and on-demand in October of last year, and it’s a unique thriller that will send shivers down your spine.

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Who Is Lizzie Borden?

Before you curl up on the couch and hug your blanket tightly to watch this new movie, here’s a refresher on the haunting past that Lizzie Borden left behind.

Lizbeth Andrew Borden was the 32-year-old Fall River woman suspected of murdering her stepmother and father with a hatchet in 1892. She was acquitted the following year but was ostracized by the city and has been the focal point of SouthCoast ghost stories ever since.

The Inhabitant Tells Lizzie’s Story in a Unique Way

The official synopsis of The Inhabitant concisely says:

“A series of supernatural events reveals a dark truth behind a tormented teenager.”

 

In the trailer, a young teenager is seemingly staying at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River and is given Lizzie’s old room for her stay. The teen is overtaken by the spirit of Lizzie and becomes tormented by haunting visions and sinister thoughts. The trailer ends with a silhouette of a young woman wielding a hatchet as a chilling voice sings:

Lizzie Borden took an axe

And gave her mother forty whacks;

When she saw what she had done

She gave her father forty-one.

That little ditty, popular since children started jumping rope to it in the late 19th century, is catchy but wrong. In reality, Abby Borden suffered 19 blows and her husband 10 to 11.

How did we miss this movie release? For a movie surrounding a Fall River legend, it’s remarkable that this film went over our heads for the past year.

With the spooky season quickly approaching, there’s no better time to check out The Inhabitant for yourself, now available on Prime Video.