Few directors are able to tell a story as deliberately as this character. I always enjoy his work, even if I don't enjoy the story. But what a plus when the story's really fun as well? I saw this on pay-per-view, then I watched a tape - twice, I watched it again when my sister rented it - now I'm buying the DVD. The more I see it, the more enjoyable it becomes. Burton really stands up to scrutiny. And I'm grateful to have this new interpretation of the story available to me.

Plus, this movie is just plain fun!


Best Sleepy Hollow Film Yet   December 29, 2004
 24 out of 24 found this review helpful

The color of the film, the mood, and acting of Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, and the legendary Christopher Walken adds to the stylish rendition of Washington Irving's short story. Although there were more added to the original story such as the backstory on Miranda Richardson and the romance between Christina Ricci's character with Johnny Depp, this is one version of Sleepy Hollow that sends chills down your spine and still manage to entertain both genders. A date film? Yes, definitely.


Shoots itself in the foot with a bazooka of silliness   March 29, 2000
 23 out of 37 found this review helpful

First of all Sleepy Hollow is a visual masterpiece. It should have won the oscar for cinematogrophy, because there are times when you want to touch the screen to see if the paint has dried. As the film started , it looked like Burton was going to pull off his ultimate macabre opus, notice as the credits roll with Depp heading to Sleepy Hollow, and his name comes on the screen, there is a scene by the river that is so beautiful it belongs in an art gallery. The film sustains this menace for about half its length, drenched in mystery, voilence and a wonderful human centre in Johnny Depp as Icabod Crane. He is a man with many theories and little experience, he has big mouth but very little to back it up. Yet he is funny and likable, and provides a good counterpoint to the gory goings on. At this point the film has a tone somewhere in between parody and full blown horror, and although I would prefered it if Burton would have gone for a full on horror film, that is not his style. He always operates on some level of parody, with tongue in cheek. Which is fine up untill about the last third of the film, where he abandons all the mysticism and turns into a silly action/whodoneit film. Where all characters are suspect and will surely be knocked off till we're left with the big baddie. Surely a film with such terrefic visuals and performances deserves a better script than this. I would have liked to see what a director like David Fincher would have done with this (He worked with the writer of this film on the great SE7EN). He probably would have gone for a no-holds barred macabre film, with non of jokery or the comedy and perhaps full-filled the promise of those gorgous looking sets. As it is I would reccomend this film as a rental, not ownership. The best Tim Burton film is still easily ED WOOD, where the material is more suitable to his ironic tone.


Not your classic horror movie...   May 8, 2000
 22 out of 26 found this review helpful

I'm not a huge horror movie fan. I'm not even a fan of movies satirizing horror movies (i.e. The Scream series was probably one of the biggest wastes of film resources), but I must say, Sleepy Hollow was scary in a funny way. This movie isn't SUPPOSED to be scary at all. Yes, the idea of a "horseman...without a head" is supposed to be a little spooky, but that is not the intended purpose of the film. IF you want the scary version, watch the animated Sleepy Hollow by Disney. Burton does an AMAZING job with the visual and sound effects. Johnny has come a long way since 21 Jumpstreet (not that he was bad then, either). I think he did a superb job interpreting Ichabod Crane (a regular wimp trying to impress a girl is always one of the funniest things to observe. I know because people tell me I look funny when I try to impress the ladies...) Don't get me wrong, the movie has it's points that will make you jump and cringe, but not enough to earn--and I'm glad it didn't--a seat in the horror movie section. I'd love to see it either in the suspense or comedy sections. The movie is one of the best movies Burton has come out with since Beatlejuice and Batman. Burton is back, and he's kicking some butt and "taking some heads!" Now if he would come back to Batman and fix the mess Schumacher created...