Lovely

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 2000)

Burton's best films are a personal labor of love. "Beetlejuice", "Ed Wood" and "Edward Scissorhands" are all great because Burton's infectious enthusiasm ends up being projected throughout all elements of the film - from the actors to the set designers and the soundtrack composer (invariably Danny Elfman). The results are fascinatingly bizarre characters, fantastic visuals and entertaining off-kilter moods that more than compensates for the director's (self-confessed) deficiencies as a straight storyteller.

"Sleepy Hollow" is no different. A grand gothic mystery set in an expressionistic vision of rural New York in the late 18th Century, Burton paints a picture of people under siege from supernatural forces, while a lone outsider (Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane) attempts to rectify the situation.
The look of "Sleepy Hollow" beats anything Burton has done before. The intricately detailed set design brings out every nook and cranny, makes every wooden door, thatched roof, even the leaves seem real enough to touch. The cinematography is amazing, seeming to leach the color out of every surface to the point that the movie almost seems black and white, so that when color does appear (usually the crimson red blood of the Headless Horseman's victims) it is like a rich visual eruption that focuses your attention. I've never seen anything like it, except maybe Neil Jordan's "Company of Wolves".
The special effects are all seamless and perfectly suit the action. Decapitations, stabbings, rotting corpses and hideous witches all done with typical professional aplomb by Kevin Yagher (make-up) and ILM, making the magic come alive. Also, kudos to Nick Gillard and Ray Park from "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" to bringing their physical gifts to "Sleepy Hollow" in order to make the skull-challenged Hessian warrior truly a force to be reckoned with.
The acting is wonderful - everyone camps it up to the perfect degree - whether to express dread or menace. Johnny Depp is a bag of surprises, as always, adopting a Colonial English accent and fussy, scared demeanor that suits his smart, educated, but definitely inexperienced New England constable, and makes him a memorable character. I also thoroughly enjoyed seeing some of my favorite Brits - Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths, Steve Waddington and Michael Gambon. Miranda Ricahrdson was wonderful as always, and Christopher Lee's cameo reminds you of why he was Hammer's No. 1 guy. Only Christina Ricci disappoints. The fire her more recent film roles have displayed is nowhere to be seen. It seems like she's trying to hard to be "respectable" here, and it's boring.
I've read a couple of reviews that criticized the divergence from Washington Irving's original story. I actually like the the way in which "Sleepy Hollow" deviates from its source; it is very much in keeping with the way the old Hammer horror films (and their American counterparts at AIP)- Burton's admitted inspirations for this film- messed with their stories. Regarding the addition of very modern action scenes to the story - anyone remember the blood and thunder climax of "Horror of Dracula" in which Van Helsing goes mano y mano with the Prince of Darkness? Personally, the results are wonderful.
I noticed that "Sleepy Hollow" was produced by Francis Ford Coppola, who also produced versions of Dracula and Frankenstein, making this his third foray into old-style Gothic horror. In my humble opinion, this is the first time he got it right.