Sleepy Hollow (1999) review

24. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Directed by: Tim Burton

Produced by: Scott Rudin, Adam Schroeder, Larry Franco

Screenplay by: Andrew Kevin Walker

Starring: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones

In my opinion, one of Disney’s more underrated efforts was their adaptation of the 1820 Washington Irving story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It’s colorful, suspenseful, catchy, and full of Gothic imagery. I don’t plan on ever reviewing it, strictly because it’s not a full movie; it’s merely the follow-up to “The Wind in the Willows” as part of the 1949 package film “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” the last of its kind before “Cinderella” returned it to its more fairy tale-centered roots. But for the next 50 years, this was the only feature sound adaptation that existed; it’s actually quite stunning that Hammer never picked this up during their horror run in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Then in 1999, we finally got “Sleepy Hollow,” directed by Tim Burton, the apparent perfect name for this type of story; despite misfiring with “Mars Attacks!,” he had still been a hot name for the previous decade. Visually, this has all the traits you’d want in a Burton film with this subject matter, even if the story is overly complex and awkward.

Much of the source material is changed; instead of Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) being an unscrupulous schoolteacher, he’s a noble police constable from New York City investigating murders committed by the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow. He’s initially dismissive of the locals’ paranormal claims, considering himself a man of science, but soon witnesses the Horseman beheading magistrate Samuel Philipse (Richard Griffiths), which turns out to just be part of a pattern of his targets. Apparently, the Horseman was once a bloodthirsty Hessian mercenary (Christopher Walken) in the Revolutionary War who now rides undead in search of his missing head; as Ichabod investigates further with Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci) and Young Masbath (Marc Pickering), whose father was one of the victims, they discover that someone has stolen the Hessian’s skull and now controls his actions, which result in an absolutely terrifying conspiracy including…real estate inheritance.

Did I say the story was complex? Well, that’s putting it mildly; it’s completely off the wall, and has almost nothing to do with the Irving tale, so don’t go in expecting a faithful adaptation. Reportedly, it was originally going to be a low-budget slasher film directed by special effects technician Kevin Yagher, known for creating Freddy Krueger’s makeup, the Chucky doll, and the Crypt Keeper. Eventually he was replaced with Burton and the project was repurposed as a big Hollywood production, but it still seems to retain that B movie sensibility, loaded with big, cheesy, gory effects and blood, so exaggerated you have to wonder if this was intended as an homage or satire of Hammer films. Adding to the vibe is the casting of notable Hammer veterans Christopher Lee and Michael Gough in minor roles. Unsurprisingly, Burton was a fan of Hammer, and he definitely recreates the pacing and look, particularly with the colors and scenery of Sleepy Hollow, with the Tree of the Dead that actually bleeds sticking out in particular; they were going to film on location, but ended up shooting in England instead. It’s overall a beautiful-looking film that seems to pay tribute to the Universal classics, Mario Bava, Roger Corman and Sam Raimi as well as Hammer. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning for Best Production Design.

This was Johnny Depp’s third collaboration with Burton, and he plays Ichabod very much like a Sherlock Holmes or Professor Van Helsing, only much more reluctant; he’s squeamish and even somewhat cowardly for a while, which kind of makes you wonder why they chose him for this investigation. He’s quick to arrive at some of his conclusions, but Depp plays the character well, and he has mildly charming scenes with Christina Ricci as Katrina. She’s a little too doe-eyed and pristine, but again, this feels like a deliberate send-up to those Hammer films, where the women were often the pretty damsels. Ichabod still has a rivalry with Brom Bones (Casper Van Dien) over Katrina, but it’s extremely downplayed to the point of irrelevance, and you also have appearances by Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson and Richard Griffiths, who went on to prominent roles in the “Harry Potter” franchise. But maybe the most genius casting is Christopher Walken as the Horseman, who never says a word but sports sharp teeth, crazy hair, and a menacing growl; he’s the highlight of the movie.

Tone-wise, I have no idea how to categorize this film; it’s notable for actually being ballsy enough to have the Horseman kill a child, and the environment amongst the characters is typically very sullen and gloomy. Ichabod is even given a back story where his religious extremist father killed his mother for practicing witchcraft. However, so many aspects come across as hokey, like the dialogue and even the specific mystery; also, the look of severed heads tumbling out of a tree is way too funny to be at all scary. I don’t really like the fact that the Horseman is being controlled by someone else; it makes him much less intimidating. It’s already a stretch to make him a real entity rather than a folk legend, but to have him as a pawn of the real villain—which is a development that just pushes the corny nature of the film even further—is pretty lame.

“Sleepy Hollow” is a movie that I both enjoy watching while subsequently shaking my head; in some ways, it’s both Burton as you would and wouldn’t expect him, because his movies often feature outcasts in dreary but fascinating settings, yet at the same time, what other film of his gets this graphic or outright ridiculous? And yes, I know he went on to do “Sweeney Todd,” which was bloody as hell, but it made sense there; this is just such a drastic departure, which I have to admire, though I still question the choices concerning the plot and characters. This is not a great movie; but you have to take into account specifically what it’s trying to be, which I think is beautiful, big budget exploitation. I feel like he could’ve done the original story justice, but this is the route they chose, and for what it is, it’s entertaining. The next notable adaption was the TV series with a contemporary setting that premiered on Fox in 2013 and aired for four seasons. So the Irving fable has had liberties taken before, and it will probably continue in the future. If you’re looking for a version that’s legitimately scary and faithful, watch the Disney version again; but if you’re looking for well-shot, action-packed nonsense, this will do it for you.

My rating: 7/10