Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Director: Tim Burton

Writers: Washington Irving (story), Kevin Yagher (screen story), Andrew Kevin Walker (screenplay)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Griffiths, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Christopher Walken, Marc Pickering, Steven Waddington

Synopsis:

New York City Constable Ichabod Crane (Depp) is sent to a small town upstate called Sleepy Hollow, which has experienced several murders with the victims found decapitated. When he arrives in the town, the town elders led by rich farmer Baltus Van Tassel (Gambon) advise the constable that the killings were made by the mythical Headless Horseman. Being a man of science, Crane passes off the elders' warnings as mere nonsense, but he soon proved wrong as he discovers that the horseman is not only real, but it has an agenda. With the help of young Masbeth (Pickering) and Van Tassel's daughter Katrina (Ricci), Crane works to uncover the Horseman's secret and bring peace to Sleepy Hollow. 

First Impressions:

I caught this one in the theatres back in '99 with a group of friends. I normally don't take to Tim Burton's films very well, but I remember enjoying the movie quite a bit. It was creepy and unsettling but was also quite funny at times. It's remained one of my favourite Burton outings, and given my recent disappointments with his Batman movies, it may have vaulted to the top of my list. Well, I may have vaulted because my opinion could change after this viewing. Here's hoping this film won't turn out to be a disappointment.

Story/Direction:

"We have murders in New York without benefit of ghouls and goblins."

The film is based on the Washington Irving Story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. While I've never read the original story, I suspect the film adds a bit more story-wise than the original tale offered. Here, the movie's premise is based upon a skittish constable investigating a series of murders perpetrated by a supernatural killer. Burton's way of telling this story is quite refreshing in the sense that everybody, including the audience, but Crane knows that the Headless Horseman is real and committing these crimes. So, the audience is entertained by Crane's bumbling about as he futilely tries to prove that the Horseman is a figment of a town's overactive imagination. Of course, we're also entertained when he is ultimately proven wrong around halfway through the movie, and we get to enjoy watching him come to terms as everything he thought he knew about the world comes crashing down around him. The story really is told quite well.

Burton does a good job of moving the story along at a good clip from the directing side of things. He makes good use of flashback and voice-over to get most of the exposition out of the way early on, which is nice. The only gripe I have with the story's pacing was the frequent flashbacks to Ichabod's traumatic childhood, which I think just slowed the movie down. Fortunately, there aren't many of these, so the film was impacted all that much. I've noticed that many filmmakers that share Burton's visual sensibilities (more on that later) tend to go slow and build tension. However, I've noticed Burton's films tend to move at a frenetic pace that belies the subject matter's overall grimness. It works, I think, well at least it does here, and it really sets up the more comedic elements of the film nicely.

Acting:

This is a big cast with many really great actors, but of course, we have to start with the film's star, Johnny Depp. This was a bit of a departure for Depp at the time as he wasn't well known for doing a lot of "mainstream" studio movies and tended to gravitate towards more indie fare. I think Depp based his performance as Ichabod Crane a bit from the old Disney animation as he portrays the character as a bumbling doofus and a coward. It's almost like he's a gothic version of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau from the old Pink Panther movies. It's definitely a departure from the standard protagonist of a film such as this and, I think, help inform the performance as Jack Sparrow later on in his career.

The other performance I'd like to highlight was Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel. At the time of the movie's release, Ricci was still a relatively fresh face in the industry and was mostly known for her Wednesday Addams' portrayal in The Addams Family movies. In Sleepy Hollow, she plays Katrina as a bit of a mystery, and it works well for the most part. The audience is never quite sure what to make of her, and her line delivery is unusual enough that we think she may be behind the whole thing.

There are many other great performances here, including Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson as Kartina's father and step-mother, respectively. The town elders played by Michael Gough, Ian McDiarmid, Richard Griffiths and Jeffrey Jones are all well played. Plus, there's a small role for the great Christopher Walken that he was born to play. Top marks all round for the acting.

Visuals:

Come for the story; stay for the visuals. That's pretty much how I would describe most of my experiences with Tim Burton movies, and this one is no exception. From a production design standpoint, this film is amazing. The way filmmakers created the world of Sleepy Hollow from scratch is some old-school movie magic. There's nobody in Hollywood that can do gloomy and macabre quite like Tim Burton, and in this film, he takes those sensibilities and lays them all out on screen. It really is a joy to look at, whether it's the dark foreboding town, the haunted Western Woods, or the Tree of Death. It's really, really well done.

As for special effects, there are quite a few, including some early CGI. Overall, I'd say the effects are done very well. There are quite a bit of practical effects, such as blood splattering (most of it in Ichabod's face) and the numerous decapitations, most of which were done in-camera. However, I think it's the CGI where this movie really shines. Now, there's not a ton of computer effects here, but they're used very smartly; whether it's fog and fire effects or the seamless removal of the Horseman's head, it really was well done. 

Score/Music:

This is a Tim Burton film, so of course, the music was made by Danny Elfman, and you can tell. Elfman's movie scores often have brisk pacing to them, and they're just very...jaunty? Does that make sense? He has a distinct style that differentiated him from most of his contemporaries. There are only a few composers when I hear their music that I think, "Oh, that was done by so-and-so!" Danny Elfman is one of those composers. In this movie, the frantic music fits well with the movie's frantic pacing and really helps bring the film to life. 

Action:

There's not a TON of action in this film, but what's there is well done. There's a decent fight scene between the Horseman, Ichabod and Katrina's boyfriend Brom (Van Dien), as well as a tense showdown in a burning windmill. But the crowning action beat is the carriage chase in the movie's final act, which is really well done. For a movie that's not an "action movie," it's action sequences are quite well done and only add to the story.

Final Verdict:

Well, so far, Tim Burton is batting 1 for 3 with me. While I was disappointed in the two Batman films, I still quite enjoy this movie. In fact, it's definitely vaulted its way to the top of my list for Burton films. Well, for the time being, at least. Anyway, I recommended it for people in the mood for a good Haloween movie but don't want to be too scared.