Directed by Tim Burton, Sleepy Hollow, based on Washington Irving’s classic tale, follows the intelligent yet squeamish Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) as he investigates a paranormal conspiracy involving murders by the hands of the headless horseman. Crane is keen to prove that a person of flesh and blood is behind the horseman, but will soon find out things are not what they seem.
This film mixes horror, fantasy, comedy and romance in the classic Tim Burton fashion. And this is truly one of the most underrated Tim Burton films of all time, as well as one of the most underrated horror films of all time. It’s a true gem of the 90s that captured the magic of a unique sub-genre of horror that hasn’t been done for many many years, as well as be a really clever gothic mystery. It also captures the world of the original book and fleshes it out with a great cast of characters and stellar filmmaking. Everything has such incredible detail thanks to the pure genius of Tim Burton when he is in his element.
But let us start with the characters first because Tim Burton assembles a star studded cast, including Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Christopher Walken, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Christopher Lee and many others.
Johnny Depp delightfully plays an intelligent yet still cowardly adaptation of Ichabod Crane. He is an absolutely lovable dork that provides humor and a great hero for this kind of story. You could relate his performance and character a bit to Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes since he is an intelligent quirky detective dedicated to proving the paranormal is an illusion, which he ends up being wrong about in this case, but his humorous cowardice and the uniqueness of the story is what makes it different and stand out. Johnny Depp gave his all to this character as did everyone else to theirs.
Tim Burton chose a truly dedicated cast, including Christina Ricci who plays an equally lovable love interest for Ichabod that is wholesome and not cheesy. Christopher Walken and Ray Park play as the terrifying headless horseman.
Walken briefly plays the human version of the Horseman and even with no dialogue he is absolutely creepy with his sharp teeth, devilish eyes and psychotic screams. Ray Park primarily plays as the horseman doing all of the stunt work and action as the horseman, bringing his mastery of hand to hand combat to bring to life a truly terrifying figure that can not be stopped. You could say he’s a bit like Michael Myers but more gothic, demented, rides a horse and a master swordsman.
The story as I said is an excellent gothic mystery as well as horror, which provides many subtle clues and foreshadowing that is done in such an intelligent way and never succumbs to typical cliches. It embraces elements of old B-movie horrors with its gothic tone, humor, colors and even the excessive amounts of brightly colored blood and gore.
A lot of old horrors, particularly on lower budgets, would have brightly colored blood that would shoot out whatever hacked limbs or stab wounds that occurred, and Tim Burton tributes this by having similar sequences in this film, and it’s not the only thing he tributes from old horrors. Some of the older actors he cast for this film, like Christopher Lee, have all been involved in many of those older B-movie horrors and Burton would plug some subtle references to their roles. For Christopher Lee there’s a shot of him where an eagle statue is behind him, and at the angle he is shown the wings of the eagle align with his back, which is a subtle call back to his role as Dracula in many films through the 50s and 70s. I love that kind of stuff and I love how Tim Burton honors those kinds of movies that you would never really see being made anymore.
The cinematography is by far one of greatest aspects of this film, adding so much to the horror and unnerving environment. It is a classic Tim Burton-esque setting that is guaranteed to give you goosebumps. The colors are drained out, adding to feeling of this dark ages time period, as well as the paranormal presence of the town of Sleepy Hollow.
The sets and effects are primarily practical for this film, making it feel so real and fleshed out that it truly captures the feel of book. There is some CGI present that is a bit dated and cheesy in some areas but I feel that may have been done on purpose to once again tribute older horrors. Some people may be turned off by it but I love it for how it embraces its slight corniness.
The music by Danny Elfman is the best, adding to the thrills, tension and gothic horror setting. It’s one of the best Tim Burton film soundtracks and it’s always such a joy to listen to.
This is one of the most underrated, entertaining yet smart horror films that not many people talk about. It pays tribute to classic horrors while also being its own thing, having a great cast, a surprisingly well-built narrative with great clues, fun elements, creepy elements and stunning cinematography, effects and music. It’s a classic gem that deserves getting attention again. I’m going to give Sleepy Hollow an A.