Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Director: Tim Burton
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
1799: New York police inspector Ichabod Crane (Depp) is sent to investigate a murder case in the provinces, in the hope it will purge him of his newfangled scientific theories. But there's little mystery about the crimes at Sleepy Hollow. Everyone knows the guilty party is the legendary 'headless horseman', a Prussian hussar who used to terrorise the countryside. Much taken by the enigmatic Katrina Van Tassel (Ricci), Crane chooses to confront his fear and dig a little deeper, even as everyone who's anyone in the town begins to lose his head. Burton's free interpretation of Washington Irving's classic bogey tale has a lustrous, black velvet look that draws on fairy tale traditions, Disney, Gothic and Dutch Colonial styles - with a pinch of Hammer Horror thrown in. Depp affects a vaguely English accent and a prissy, slightly effeminate demeanour as Crane. It's a witty but fatally caricatured performance which precludes much in the way of emotional investment, and generates negligible chemistry with a pallid Ricci. This is more plot-driven than Burton's norm, and it moves at a fair lick, but even so, its attractions are all atmospheric, while narrative convolutions tend to come in undigested gobbets of explanation. For about an hour it's a fine, ghoulish carnival sideshow, and that has its charms, but there's a thin desperation about the climax.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Tim Burton
Producer: Scott Rudin, Adam Schroeder
Cast: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Caspar Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Griffiths, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Christopher Walken, Claire Skinner, Christopher Lee, Alun Armstrong, Martin Landau full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 105 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has Michael Mann lost it?
Adam Lee Davies mourns the passing of a major Hollywood talent as Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' sees the great director running on empty
Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults
Tom Huddleston takes a look at a selection of films which bring adult problems to a pre-teen audience
Is this Summer 2009's best film?
The French filmmaker Claire Denis speaks to Dave Calhoun about her new film, '35 Shots of Rum', a tender portrait of a father-daughter relationship in Paris
The Informant: trailer preview
Steven Soderbergh is at it again, this time with a screwball corporate caper starring Matt Damon called 'The Informant'. View the trailer here...
Rudo y Cursi: interview
Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna talk to Time Out about their highly entertaining new comedy, 'Rudo y Cursi'
An open letter to Peter Morgan
Tom Huddleston penned an open letter to Peter Morgan offering some friendly dos and don'ts for the new Bond movie
Outdoor film screenings in London 2009
Derek Adams offers a guide to the best places to see films outside in London this summer
50 essential sci-fi films
With 'Star Trek' making serious waves, we thought it would be a perfect time to select 50 must-see sci-fi films










What do you think?
Post your review now