Burton Hollow

Rating: 6/10 (22 May 2010)

It's a tricky thing, updating these old, well-known stories for a modern audience. Stray too far from the source material, and you lose a lot of the spirit of the original work. Don't change things enough, and...well, you probably won't make very much money. Which brings us to Sleepy Hollow. A very well-known, American story. How does it fare?
Well, it gets Burton-ized. Tim Burton leaves his fingerprints more heavily on some movies than others, and Sleepy Hollow is one of those movies. It only resembles the original story in name, location, and villain, and the rest is heavily influenced by...whatever the rest of Burton's work is influenced by. If you like that idea, then you'll like this movie. If you're tired of his visual style and cinematic signature, then Sleepy Hollow won't change your mind. I didn't feel like the tone really fit what Sleepy Hollow "should be", but that's just the result of a preference on my part, not necessarily a flaw. I can appreciate what Burton did in updating the tale of Ichobod Crane and the Headless Horsemen, but it didn't connect with me as well as I hoped. I was expecting more of a horror movie, and Sleepy Hollow isn't frightening in the least. Still, it's not bad.