Gruesome, Atmospheric, and Darkly Comic.

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2006)

I saw this film a few Thanksgivings back, and I thought it was an excellent piece of cinema. After recently rewatching it, my feelings are still the same. "Sleepy Hollow" revolves around the quirky Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), who is sent to the small secluded village of Sleepy Hollow, New York, that is living in fear after a series of brutal slayings by a supposed supernatural figure, the Headless Horseman. An investigator and attorney, Ichabod is skeptical about the horseman. When arriving at the small colonial village, he stays with the wealthiest family in town - the Van Tassels, who have a lengthy legacy behind them. He is soon 'bewitched' by the Van Tassels daughter, Katrina (Christina Ricci), and begins to have his own experiences with the headless horseman - convincing him that the horseman is no myth, and is actually the one responsible for the series of beheadings. But there is a little more to the Horseman than the townspeople know of, and it's up to him to find out.
The strongest element of this film by a long shot is the beautiful imagery. The small village, the woods surrounding it, and all the scenery is breathtaking - it looks like it came straight out of a fairytale. The village is dark and foggy, and the woods are very desolate with twisted, leaf-less trees. This sets up a very strong atmosphere, and the film takes place during the Thanksgiving/fall season, so that is another addition to film's overall feel. The special effects are also great, the supernatural Headless Horseman is very creepy, and the beheadings and deaths in the film are both convincing and grim. Everything Tim Burton does is with style, and he shows it off a lot in this movie. The plot is derived from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving, a classic American tale. Those who are familiar with the old Disney cartoon version of the "Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman" will want to beware of this film, because it is much more violent and gruesome than the tame, children's cartoon, and there are some very neat spins put on the story to make it a much more dark, evil-themed film.
The performances in the film are perfect - Johnny Depp plays the squeamish Ichabod with both seriousness and comedy. In fact, the film does include a lot of comic undertones and some flat-out funny scenes involving his character, that contrast with the bloody carnage that is taking place. Christina Ricci plays Katrina very well herself, she's innocent but mysterious, and has good chemistry with the Ichabod character. Behind the two leads are Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson, playing the Van Tassels, Casper Van Dien as Brom - a macho guy who is trying to woo Katrina, and Christopher Walken as the Headless horseman, in life of course.
Bottom line - "Sleepy Hollow" is an excellent film. It's both scary and darkly comic at the same time, with a very well-written story and good performances. If you're considering seeing this film, do. If not for the story itself, the imagery and scenery are reason enough. But expect something much more grim and violent than the Disney cartoon. 9/10.