Sleepy Hollow (1999)

"...a marvel: bold, exciting and full of visions.  Jeff Giles, Newsweek
"Gorgeous filmmaking that brims over with funhouse thrills and ravishing romance.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...the best-looking horror film since Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...an American classic.  Joel Siegel, Good Morning America
"An ultimate Tim Burton movie.  Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Editor's Note In Tim Burton's stylish, creepy retelling of the classic Washington Irving story, SLEEPY HOLLOW, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is a squeamish, bookish 18th century New York City investigator sent to a small town in lower Westchester county to look into three mysterious decapitations. When the always rational Crane arrives at the little Dutch village, he finds that most of the townsfolk believe the culprit to be the Headless Horseman, the ghost of a monstrous Hessian soldier (Christopher Walken), who seems to be mysteriously tied in to one of the town's most prominent families. Burton's natural instincts for campy humor, combined with the hauntingly gorgeous technical work (Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography and Danny Elfman's score included), collide to create a work of exhilarating entertainment and poetic storytelling. Miranda Richardson, Casper Van Dien and Christina Ricci help make up an ensemble cast that, combined with the historically accurate village sets and dreamlike magic of the haunted Western Woods--created on the largest sound stage in film history--makes SLEEPY HOLLOW a visually stunning, gripping, and, at times, chilling film.

	Casper Van Dien
	Christina Ricci
	Christopher Lee
	Christopher Walken
	Johnny Depp
	Lisa Marie
	Michael Gambon
	Miranda Richardson
	Andrew Kevin Walker - Screenplay
	Chris Lebenzon - Editor
	Danny Elfman - Original Music By
	Emmanuel Lubezki - Cinematographer
	Francis Ford Coppola - Executive Producer
	Joel Negron - Editor
	Ken Court, et. al. - Art Director
	Scott Rudin - Producer
	Tim Burton - Director
	Washington Irving - Based On Story By

Variety
"...As beautifully crafted a film as anyone could ever hope to see..." p.87

Rolling Stone
"...SLEEPY HOLLOW is gorgeous filmmaking that brims over with funhouse thrills and ravishing romance..." 12/09/1999 p.89-90

Premiere
"...Fine cast..." -- 3 out of 5 stars 06/01/2000 p.100

USA Today
"...Depp is as good here as he was in ED WOOD and DONNIE BRASCO, which means the movie has a lot more going for it than special effects, as sizzling as they are..." 11/19/1999 p.7E

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Entertaining and sometimes rather elegant....This is the best-looking horror film since Coppola's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA..." 11/19/1999 p.33

Total Film
"Tim Burton goes to town with the spooky style and whacked-out characters that he loves so much..." 09/01/2000 p.99

Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "It's breathtakingly visual with ravishing production design....SLEEPY HOLLOW is an absolute treat." 08/01/2007 p.87

ReelViews 6 of 10
Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow is as stylish and atmospheric as any motion picture to arrive in theaters this year. Unfortunately, those aspects are its lone strengths. The film suffers from tepid performances, feebly drawn characters, and a meandering narrative. Regardless of how many eerie, fog-shrouded forest sequences, gruesome decapitations, and gorgeous matte paintings Burton offers us, Sleepy Hollow's look cannot obfuscate its numerous, glaring weaknesses...Burton has assembled an impressive supporting cast, with the exception of hunky Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), who is only in about four scenes. In addition to Michael Gambon, several other well-known British actors are on hand, including Miranda Richardson (as Baltus' wife), Michael Gough (Alfred from the Batman movies, playing the local notary), and Ian McDiarmid (The Phantom Menace's Darth Sidious). Both Christopher Walken and Christopher Lee have cameos - the former as the Horseman before losing his head and the latter as the New York judge who sends Ichabod to Sleepy Hollow...For some incomprehensible reason, Sleepy Hollow is being released in mid-November instead of four weeks earlier during the pre-Halloween season, when it probably would have been guaranteed a healthy week or two at the box office. Set up against James Bond, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Buzz Lightyear, the Headless Horseman would appear to be overmatched. Things might be different if Sleepy Hollow was a better film, but, aside from its consistently appealing visual elements and portentous atmosphere, Burton's latest is as hollow as a Jack O'Lantern. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 8 of 10
Saying that a Tim Burton film is visually arresting is stating the obvious. Still, it's worth noting that Sleepy Hollow is outrageously stunning to look at, dazzling from first shot to last - like peering into an ornate snow globe at a dreamy, enchanting, and occasionally terrifying otherworld. Based on the classic tale by Washington Irving and fashioned in the style of the gothic Hammer horror films, Burton's flick makes for an eye-popping, crackerjack murder mystery...as any Tim Burton fan will tell you, this Sleepy Hollow is all about visual razzle-dazzle and tongue-in-cheek humor - and, on those counts, the film delivers. - Robert Payne

Reel.com 8 of 10
With his foggy fable Sleepy Hollow, director Tim Burton builds a typically dark yet delightful fantasy, only to decapitate his creation with anticlimactic exposition and a drawn-out, action-heavy finale. Part Ed Wood and part Murder, She Wrote, this macabre mystery offers an entertaining but flawed combination of fun-house horrors and tongue-in-cheek humor...Like most of Burton's films, Sleepy Hollow follows a quirky misfit's efforts to navigate through an off-kilter world. His Ichabod Crane is a comedic cross between Jessica Fletcher, Dana Scully, and Don Knotts, conducting controversial autopsies with idealistic, cheerful enthusiasm. Depp plays his role with youthful exuberance, channeling the goofy gusto of Ed Wood rather than the tragic poignancy of Edward Scissorhands. The town is populated by a convincing cast of wigged worrywarts and witches, and Christopher Walken hams it up as the wild-haired, razor-toothed horseman when flashbacks require a headed Hessian horror...Despite his valiant efforts to bring depth, subtlety, and meaning to what is otherwise a simple spook-fest, Burton doesn't trust his own craftsmanship or the audience's intelligence enough to let Sleepy Hollow's tale tell itself. All of the story's hinted-at plot points are recited by the gloating villain, accompanied by a montage of missing scenes. The film would be far more satisfying had these details been revealed, rather than explained. For a filmmaker capable of unique, inventive artistry, this disappointing denouement seems all too hollow. - Mary Kalin-Casey