Tremendous fun and great atmosphere.

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 1999)

Director Tim Burton has added to his excellent and stylish body of work with a captivating adaption of Washington Irving's classic story. This film is marvelous; if there is any fault with "Sleepy Hollow" it is that it requires a viewer to pay attention to the plot - which is all the better for thinking adults. Movie-goers of any age will find something to love here, although be sure to keep the kiddies far away unless you want wet beds and sleepless nights: "Sleepy Hollow" gets off to a rousing start with two decapitations within the first few minutes.
Instead of a timid skinny schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane is a New York City policeman in 1799 specializing in scientific "detecting" of crimes; he is soon sent to distant upstate New York in the heart of an isolated mostly old Dutch community - Sleepy Hollow - where murders by decapitation are occurring with distressing frequency. Crane, rather officious and slightly diffident in his own way, goes to the town that rises out of the misty smokey air in a hollow reminiscent of Brigadoon in the Scottish highlands.
Crane soon discerns the conspiratorial nature of the leading townsmen, and that the Headless Horseman is indeed continuing his nighttime rides in search of heads. He is the incarnation of a bloodthirsty Hessian soldier from the Revolution killed by Americans in the woods that no one dares set foot in twenty years after he and his cut off head were buried there. The very logical Crane needed to see the town magistrate killed in front of him before he'd believe in the Headless Horseman.
Soon Crane is striking up a bit of a romance with the daughter of a leading (and suspicious) citizen, Katrina. But there is more here than at first seems - much more. Clues of witchcraft use keep appearing and they point to her. A mystery begins to develop with many of the pieces discernible for the truly observant. The link between the conspiracy and the Horseman eventually gets pieced together, but only partially as a final twist leads to the climactic and heart-pounding conclusion.
The plot holds together and develops very well. Fascinating clues and red herrings are sprinkled throughout the film; disjointed plot bits also all fuse together by the end with great effectiveness. The art design and scenery is superlative and Burton knows masterfully how to create the right mood with his cinematography. The special effects are first rate, but Burton uses them judiciously merely to enhance the plot and emotion of the moment; this is thankfully not an "effects" movie.
Depp is appropriately rather dazed and sometimes befuddled as Crane, although he rises to the occasion at the end. Ricci is vulnerable when needed, and the rest of the cast is effective too. Noteworthy is Christopher Walken in a non-speaking role as the Horseman and horror vet Michael Gough as a doomed notary.
The movie ends with a beautiful snowy shot on Wall Street in January of 1800, and it is so accurate the original Federal Hall is on the right and the second Trinity Church is in the distance just across Broadway. The look of old New York is splendid. "Sleepy Hollow" is wonderful in every way, including such details that make one want to see it again.