31 Days of Horror: Day #27 - SLEEPY HOLLOW

"I've discovered something." - Ichabod Crane

Sleepy Hollow, (1999), Directed by Tim Burton
Grade: A -

There are folks I know that don't like this movie, and that's fine.  I love it. So there.  While Tim Burton did screw up his career when he took on the Planet Of The Apes remake (I thought it wasn't that bad), he has for the most part, made tons of movies that I've liked.  I still haven't seen his Alice In Wonderland, but everybody has told me it's absolute garbage, so I've stayed away.

Anyway, on to the review...Washington Irving's classic story gets a delightful twist from Seven scribe Andrew Kevin Walker, and Francis Ford Coppola steps in to produce.  Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane is changed from a school teacher to a forensics detective called in to investigate the murders caused by The Headless Horesman (played by a deliciously evil Christopher Walken).

What Burton's films have been criticized (a lot)  for is style and no substance.  While many may find Sleepy Hollow "pretty" to look at, this blogger feels that no impact of horror is left unturned.  This isn't full-blown horror 'n' gore, but as Burton described it, it's an homage to the Hammer Horror films of the 60's and 70's, which were also dark, foreboding, and had never-ending creepiness.  (The film also contains Hammer alum Christopher Lee, who would go on to star in other Burton films.)

 

Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane is great, and played to the hilt with total cowardice and humor.  It's not Depp's best performance (that would be Ed Wood), but he works just fine here.

That is not to say that Sleepy Hollow is a perfect movie.  The backstory provided to explain the origins of the Headless Horseman seems unnecessary.  This blogger would have liked it better if we didn't know anything about the character, and his origins remained a mystery.  Christopher Nolan avoided this mistake in The Dark Knight by keeping the Joker's origins completely out of the film, so his character remained "absolute".

Then there's Christina Ricci, who is a wonderful actress, but she's not given much to do here, but wander around and looking eyebrow-less due to the fact that her light blonde hair is matched with her eyebrows, making her look somewhat mutated.   

Where'd they go?

But in the end, Burton's film works and I was delighted that he even added in sound effects from the classic Disney cartoon of Sleepy Hollow, which doesn't deter from anything in the picture, and make it seem "cutesy".   Plus, props to Burton for not holding back on the horror, and getting the film an R-rating.  I don't think I could see a movie about beheadings that was rated PG-13.  That's about as ridiculous as vampires that sparkle in the sunlight.