Fabulous, Bloodthirsty, Funny, Evocative Horror Story About A Headless Horseman

Rating: 8/10 (10 July 2006)

In 1799, a series of gruesome murders take place in the small New England town of Sleepy Hollow and are attributed to a ghostly local legend, the Headless Horseman. Sceptical New York police constable Ichabod Crane is sent to investigate, and is more than a little alarmed at what he uncovers ...
Produced by Francis Coppola's American Zoetrope, this is a funny, scary, gleeful, atmosphere-laden gem of a horror movie from start to finish, with a fabulous cast, a terrific story and stunning direction. Christopher Lee's brief pre-credits role sets up perfectly what this is; Tim Burton's variation on an old Hammer Horror picture, complete with spooky forests, busty women, Victorian melodrama, terrible goings-on and a classic monster. It's fantastic fearful fun all the way through, with Depp's comic-sympathetic performance as the hapless yet heroic Ichabod sparking off against Burton's nightmarish photography and grand-guignol stylings. I love the way it keeps both the scares and the laughs coming without ever being self-conscious and hip, but also maintains a great mystery storyline as well. We're with Ichabod as he tries to solve the puzzle and figure out who's who, but there are no lulls in the action, with plenty of great fights and chases along the way. Everybody is terrific in this picture, especially Richardson, the quintet of old geezer conspirators, Walken (in a flashy part as the Hessian mercenary), Park (Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace) as the Headless Horseman, and an unbilled Landau as the first victim who kicks the case off. Technically, the film is near flawless, shot almost entirely on stages, with amazingly clever use of sets, effects and filters - it's almost a black-and-white film that isn't black-and-white, all greys and muted tones one minute and evocative colour the next. Emmanuel Lubezki's camera-work, Rick Heinrichs' production design, Danny Elfman's music and Nick Gillard's stuntwork are all absolutely top-notch, as is the work by co-writer, co-producer and effects supervisor Kevin Yagher. The excellent script is only loosely based on the original tale (which is largely about the countryside, vanity, food and courting rituals) in Washington Irving's 1820 collection of stories, The Sketch Book, but this is neither here nor there. Richly reminiscent of the classic horror films of both the thirties and the fifties, this is a spine-tingling modern-day grim fairy-tale to curdle the blood on a winter's night. Magic.