Decapitation has never been more fun

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 1999)

One thing I liked about Tim Burton's update of the classic Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is that it's not stingy with the blood. Blood is poured all over the place, but not in a revolting sort of way, but in a way that you expect. The town is so dark and spooky, you welcome to grisly beheadings of the headless horseman.
Johnny Depp, in his third Burton film, is a nice Ichabod Crane. He's such a wuss, yet he walks away with his skull intact. There's alot of Burton regulars like Jeffrey Jones and Christopher Walken. His girlfriend, Lisa Marie, plays a very bewitching spirit in the movie. But this is Christina Ricci's first outing in a Burton film, which is surprising since their personas are at the same dark level (she is like the new Winona Ryder in the new Tim Burton movies). Equally surprising is that she plays a sweet, innocent Katrina Van Tassel.
But enough with the actors. The only time actors really mattered in a Burton film was ED WOOD.
The headless horseman looks great in this movie, with or without his head. He goes right in with Burton's usual gorgeously dark background. But, also, he adds a little fairy tale flavor, which you get really into. Almost entrancing.
The ending is the weak point of the film. Everything comes together too quickly, yet there's a chase scene climax that involves the horseman, and that's about when you look at your watch and realize you have to go to the bathroom.
This is not Tim Burton's best movie, though the setting is marvelous, there's too many characters to keep up with and his usual cartoonish scares (like the one involving the witch) doesn't make you feel anything anymore.
Maybe it's Andrew Kevin Walker's script, or at least the several revisions of it, which left the story muddled and uneven. It doesn't work for this movie, yet the decapitation scenes are loads of fun (who knew there were so many ways you could chop off a head!)