Stylish and Gorgeous Sleepy Hollow with a Twist of Burton

Rating: Null/10 (13 December 1999)

If anyone was born to direct a horror/thriller film, Tim Burton would be one of the contenders, but during his career, he has never traveled down that road when you think of it. Well the director of such atmospheric movies as "Batman", "Edward Scissorhands" and "Ed Wood" has stepped into that realm with the visually stunning and violent "Sleepy Hollow". Burton has turned the old classic into a Burton classic as only his dark mind can and we as the audience benefit.
"Sleepy Hollow" is based on the Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" about school teacher Icabod Crane's encounter with the headless horseman, the ghost of a Hessian mercenary who terrorized the area known as Sleepy Hollow during the Revolutionary War. Since we are in Burtonland, things have a certain twist. Icabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is a constable in 1799 Manhattan who dabbles in forensic science, investigating deaths and inventing his interesting equipment to help him along the way. Word travels to the city from a tiny farmland community up north about three mysterious deaths. Iacbod looking for a challenge and a chance to utilize his skills, packs his bags and travels to the tiny village known as Sleepy Hollow. Here the residents including the wealthy Baltus Van Tassel (Michael Gambon) and his daughter Katrina (Christina Ricci) tell him that these horrible deaths are the work of the headless horseman. Iacabod, a sort of precursor to the X-Files Scully, governed by logic and science, believes that the work is not supernatural, but human. And so begins his investigation as more and more murders take place.
Burton has created another wonderful imagined world that just takes you away for two hours. It is a stunning film to look at, as are most of Burton's films. His 18th century Manhattan and Sleepy Hollow are a world unto themselves and Burton draws you in immediately. The action sequences with the headless horseman are astounding and truly haunting. Each scene is so beautifully staged with great suspense. Compare that with the dreadful and banal "The Bone Collector" that deals with the similar subject of a forensic expert investigating serial killings. Reading "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as a child I always found it more humorous than terrifying, but Burton does a magnificent job of bringing out the darkness of the story which actually frightened me compared to so many trite horror films today.
Burton's Icabod Crane is not your typical hero, but a flawed human being with weaknesses (he gets somewhat squeamish with blood, guts and spiders). Johnny Depp creates another memorable character in a long line of quirky signature roles that have made him one of our finest risk-taking actors. Depp fully embodies the character of Iacabod, warts and all. He brings much depth, compassion and humor to the character. It is a fully realized performance. The other performances are good, especially the very sexy Miranda Richardson. The main weak link, unfortunately is the talented Christina Ricci. It is not her fault; she is just very miscast in the role of the innocent Kristina. She does not quite pull it off and comes off too modern for this period piece and it hurts the film to a certain degree. Watching her performance, all I could think of was Winona Ryder; she would have been perfect. Regardless of this flaw it is still a movie worth seeing and "Sleepy Hollow" shows that Tim Burton is one of our most gifted, imaginative and original directors that also shows his love for movies. Casting the great Hammer horror actor Christopher Lee in a bit role shows that love as in the same way he cast the late Vincent Price in his classic "Edward Scissorhands". "Sleepy Hollow" is another gem from Burton. If you are bringing children, which there were some in the theater, the decapitation scenes are gruesome and violent. Recommended. × × × 1/2