You Can't Reason With A Headless Man

Rating: 9/10 (19 September 2010)

Any resemblance between Washington Irving's whimsical tale of the Hudson Valley and this Tim Burton Gothic horror fest is purely coincidental. Of course that does not mean the film isn't good. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have combined their talents to make a really good film.
The original short story involved a bumpkin of a man in Ichabod Crane in love with Katrina Van Tassel who is also being courted by the local jock of the village Brom Bones. When he starts to get serious though the legendary headless horseman who is reputed to be the ghost of a Hessian mercenary from the revolution goes after Ichabad one dark and stormy night and he clears out of Sleepy Hollow. Irving is most cryptic about just what was the Headless Horseman that night.
Instead of the bumpkin, Ichabad Crane is transformed into a Sherlock Holmes type constable sent from New York to uncover the mystery behind several beheadings. That's the character that Johnny Depp plays and he's soon courting Christina Ricci as Katrina to the jealousy of Casper Van Dien as Brom Bones.
Tim Burton took and expanded the story and we meet the village of Sleepy Hollow who are living in mortal fear. But as Sherlock Holmes would say there is method in the seeming randomness of the Horseman and his victims. It's quite the convoluted plot that brews in Sleepy Hollow.
Not only did Tim Burton get a great ensemble performance from his cast, but the film did a great job in recreating the Hudson Valley and at the beginning and end of the film, New York City in the Federalist era of the country. Great Gothic sets, I think Burton was inspired by some of the horror classics that Universal used to do back in the days of the studio system.
In addition to those already mentioned, Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson as Mr.&Mrs. Van Tassel, Michael Gough as the village notary and in flashback Christopher Walken as the Horseman before he went headless should all be singled out.
Sleepy Hollow is a well done film and even though it is more Tim Burton than Washington Irving it will give you more than a few frights. As for Johnny Depp as his portrayal was more Sherlock Holmes than Ichabad Crane, perhaps he'll consider doing a Sherlock Holmes movie as a future project. We can only hope.