Sleepy Hollow

Drawing from his Gothic roots (Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas) Burton has created a truly chilling horrific fantasy that keeps you guessing at every turn. The use of special effects is seemless and yet again, as in his other films, Burton excels at creating a whole look and feeling for the piece. He has managed to re-work the classic horror genre staying true to his own highly personal style and catering to post- Wes Craven cinema audiences' cynicism without taking itself too seriously a la Blair Witch. It is so refreshing to see the work of an art-house genius who hasn't let a big hollywood budget get to his head. Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci give charming performances as ever, as do rest of the assembled anglo-Brit. star-studded cast. They all look like they had a ball, as will you!

Tim Burton has done it again. It seems he can't really go wrong; especially when he's paired with Johnny Depp. Sleepy Hollow is the most visually stunning movie I have seen this year. The production is gorgeous in every way; the cinematography is hauntingly beautiful, the set design is incredible and the way Burton uses the color red to accentuate the lack of color and dreariness otherwise experienced in Sleepy Hollow is a visual treat. This movie is just absolutely beautiful to watch. The performances are flawless, I have to commend Burton for using such a great array of underappreciated character actors, such as Jeffrey Jones and Michael Gough.. and even poor little Casper Van Dien; the man just can't seem to get any respect (and he doesn't here either). Ricci is wonderful in a role totally against type, and Depp is refreshing as ever. Christopher Walken is just the coolest guy ever, and as the Headless Horseman he's even scarier than normal. The best thing, though, is Danny Elfman's music. Why on earth doesn't the man have an Oscar yet? What is going on?? He should at least get a nomination for this one.

The movie, Sleepy Hollow, embodies Tim Burton's unique take on one of the most well-known horror tales of all time, with a few new plot twists and greater character development, including a dark past for Ichabod Crane and a "story behind the story" of what's going on in the haunted town, which is beautifully rendered, dark and foggy for an eerie atmosphere.

The dream cast puts in great performances, but obviously it's Johnny Depp who steals the show with his intuitive and sometimes over-the-top portrayal of the anti-hero, Ichabod Crane, who displays admirable bravery while at the same time often succumbing to fear.

The lavish production, masterful acting, background music, beautiful periodic sets and costumes and the careful attention to detail, most notable in the special effects used to bring the headless horseman "to life", if you will, all come together to tell the tale of Sleepy Hollow's plight and deliverance as it's never been told before. It's unlikely that this cinematic version will ever be surpassed. Superb!

Enjoyable version about known Washington Irving's novel, titled ¨The legend of Sleepy Hollow¨. It concerns on Ichabod Crane(excellently personified by Johnny Depp). He's a N.Y. constable assigned to investigate brutal murders in a little town named Sleepy Hollow. Crane is housed by Balthus Van Tassel(Michael Gambon), whose beautiful daughter(Christina Ricci) falls in love for him. At the beginning Crane denies to believe that a rider without head committing the grisly killings, but he's early convinced when seeing the graphic evidence of his own hands. Meanwhile, wealthy authorities and rich proprietaries (Richard Griffiths,Ian McDiarmid,Michael Gough,Michael Gambon) from village reunite to planning and defending against the amazing beheaded creature.Finally, all it leads to an unexpected twist and breakthrough ending on what's happened before.

This is an agreeable and effective film, still has shock value from grisly killings .It's proceeded with a Burton style and containing colorful images and wonderful dreams with Burtonized narrative. The movie is plenty on suspense, thriller, grisly terror and sensationalistic set pieces horror when the decapitations take place. Wide use of gore and now famous decapitation , for those who like this kind of things. Casting frankly extraordinary with several famous actors and exceptional secondary cast and special cameos by Martin Landau and Christopher Lee .Glimmer cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki and sensational musical score by Danny Elffman, both are Burton's usual. The film is lavishly produced by Francis Ford Coppola-Zeotrope studios- and Kevin Yagher-famous makeup expert- .The motion picture is marvellously directed with visual style and fair-play by the great Tim Burton. Rating : Magnificent flick and better than average.

Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane was a good choice, and he was able to play a character who is odd and quirky, yet not stupid or insane. It's a much more subtle version of some of the Johnny Depp characters we've seen in the past decade. Most of the supporting cast was pretty good too, especially Christopher Walken as the Head-having Horseman and Gorgeous Christina Ricci is his beau. The look and feel of the film was one of the highlights, as Burton was able to make everything look authentic, yet give the feeling of unease. Lots of scenes, if not all of them, were filmed with blue-tinted filters that gave everything a cold and detached look.

Gothic fantasy movies just don't come more lush than Tim Burton's efforts, and in this thinly disguised slasher film, based on the novel by Washington Irving, a legendary headless horseman lops off the noggins of the inhabitants of the small north eastern town of Sleepy Hollow in 1799. Everything you'd expect from a gored-up Tim Burton flick.