Visually epic and thoroughly entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2002)

Anyone who loves their stylised horror films, and in particular British horror films should check this out. This is no standard hollywood blockbuster.
Burton proves once again that he is master of dark visuals. He lavishly recreates the atmosphere of a hammer horror film. The sets look amazing, you get a sense that the production designer wanted you to know that most of the outdoors scenes were filmed inside, to add to that hammer feeling. The gore and blood is completely over the top in a dark comic fantasy type of way. Both the American leads are fine (although Christina Ricci looks far to young for Johnny Depp), and they are helped out by a quality British cast. The best performance of all is given by Christopher Walken as the brutal headless horseman (while he has his head, of course). The score by Danny Elfman adds some great atmosphere to the film. This is more than pure entertainment. The dark visuals turn this film into a classic.