A Highlander fan's paradise

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 1999)

Before I begin my review, I issue a challenge to anyone who might feel up to it: Go into this movie and actually count the number of heads that are severed from a person's shoulders.... I lost count after about twenty.... By all means, count and send me a private message... I really am curious!
This film is probably the best-looking horror movie I've ever seen. Visually, it is brilliant, depicting an all new world in the small town of Sleepy Hollow....one that literally sucks you in suddenly and without warning. The visuals in themselves are outstanding, but it is the atmosphere of this small town, in the grand tradition of the Hammer films from the days of olde, that is really compelling.
Story-wise, it's not bad either, though it's about as close to the orginal Irving story as "The Greatest Story Ever Told" is short. The only thing that exists from the original short story are the names of the characters. Icabod Crane is a detective sent from New York to Sleepy Hollow by Christopher Lee (you gotta love it!) to investigate a series of bizaar murders: It seems that there has been four decapitations, and the heads are missing. Everyone in the town suspects the headless horseman (Christopher Walken in flashbacks, Ray Park in all the headless scenes), the ghost of an old sadistic British officer. Crane, however, seeks to prove otherwise. After meeting the town's white witch (beautiful Christina Ricci....Quite a leap from her Wednesday days!) and encountering the Headless Horseman for himself, he is convinced otherwise, and the rest of the film is devoted to him tracking down the undead creature, kind of taking the role of a Sherlock Holmes meets Dr. Van Helsing.
This is Tim Burton's best work since "Edward Scissorhands." The cast, the suspense, and the stunts are all a feast for the eyes. The gore is also there unashamedly.... This might be the most grisely film in recent film history. It really isn't the violence that sinks in, however, in the long run....The film is stylish enough as it is. But of course, with the appearance of such horror veterans as Christopher Lee, Kevin Yagher, Michael Gough, and even Burton himself, you have to expect a few extra buckets of blood. Uhhh...better make that a few extra truck-loads...
It's worth watching, however, for the town of Sleepy Hollow alone. What a weird, weird place.... Burton really overdoes himself with this. Not recommended for children or the faint-of-heart.... The film itself is more creepy than scary, but after about the first three hundred and sixty heads are sliced off, even I was getting a little sick to my stomach.... Though I have to admit....it was Burton, it was Hollywood horror at its best...and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
***1/2 out of ****