Ghoulish movie

Rating: 6/10 (20 November 1999)

This was a well done movie, and quite gripping. Definately the best movie from the horror genre this year. And Johnny Depp even does a convincing job acting, although his support cast, especially Ricci, was not as good.
One nice touch was that, although there were many special effects they did not stick out as they normally seem to in such movies. This is probably because even the scenes that were "real" had a skewed reality. And for once the reality was consistent throughout the film, so the suspension of disbelief was not difficult.
I do have two complaints, neither of which detract from the movie itself. The first is that this is not an authentic retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Amoung other things Icabod Crane was supposed to be a school teacher, and a firm believer in the occult (and it actually gets worse from there)... But if you haven't read the story you won't miss it (much like if you never read Dracula before seeing Bram Stoker's Dracula). The second complaint is the use of Christopher Walken. I was hoping for some of the Walken scenes that his fans (including myself) have grown to cherish. But aside from that he makes a truly sinister Hessian.