Sleepy Hollow (1999)

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Director Tim Burton puts his stamp on Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, casting his Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands star Johnny Depp in the role of Ichabod Crane. In this retelling, Crane is a 1799 New York forensic investigator sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a string of murders. The townspeople tell him the victims are decapitated and their heads haven’t been found — stolen by the Headless Horseman, a crazed Hessian soldier beheaded by the townfolk decades earlier. Crane doesn’t believe the story until he encounters the supernatural villain for himself. An encounter with a witch in the woods sets him on the path to solving the mystery behind the Horseman’s resurrection — and how to send him back to the grave.

Andrew Kevin Walker’s (Se7en, 8mm) screenplay is decidedly plot-driven, with Burton’s visual stylings and Danny Elfman’s music doing most of the emotional heavy lifting. Depp plays Ichabod as a quirky, over-confident fraidy-cat. Romantic lead Christina Ricci offers more traditional heroic values, even if she feels a bit too young for the part. The supporting cast is highly esteemed, if a bit under-utilized. Michael Gambon and Miranda Richardson head the kind household that cares for Ichabod during his investigation. The roster also includes a delightful reunion of previous Burton players, including Jeffrey Jones (Beetlejuice), Michael Gough (Batman), Christopher Walken (Batman Returns), Lisa Marie (Mars Attacks!), and Martin Laundau (Ed Wood).

Burton does a commendable job balancing action, mystery, and horror with Sleepy Hollow, while also throwing in dashes of his trademark dark humor. While I personally wish it were a little more suspenseful than surprising, it’s a gorgeous-looking film full of spooky atmosphere that achieves a rare, storybook quality. It’s a popcorn movie for sure, but there’s a series of dream scenes that are likely to haunt you longer than anything the Headless Horseman does. In these dreams, Ichabod comes to remember how his magic-practicing mother was tortured and killed by his pious father. The scenes unfortunately don’t have much bearing on Ichabod’s character or the rest of the story, but in and of themselves, they are pure Tim Burton — provocative on a conceptual level, stylized to dramatic effect, and ripe with thematic duality.

With Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee, and Casper Van Dien.

Academy Award: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration

Oscar Nominations: Best Costume Design, Cinematography