We all know the story of Sleepy Hollow. We've all seen the Disney short where
the poor unwitting school teacher, Ichabod Crane, is chased through the forest and
down that bridge only to be supposedly killed by the genuinely scary Headless
Horseman. And, really, that's the only interpretation that has ever stuck in the
memory of anyone. If anyone else has attempted to adapt Washington Irving's story
since, it's never been remembered, and so I'm assuming that they simply do not exist.
Then along came Tim Burton.
First, let's recap what we know about this man. He's dark. Okay, he's very dark.
He's the man behind Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Batman Returns, Ed Wood, The Nightmare
Before Christmas, and even Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. We all know the strangeness
and the utter gothic darkness that Burton is capable of. He has demonstrated this on
more than one occasion... on about four, actually. The man is a master of scenery, of
vision and style. His style is quite this: Dark, gothic, and twisty.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is no different. Starring an actor who has been dubbed
as Burton's favourite blank slate, Johnny Depp, Sleepy Hollow is by far one of Burton's
best movies. He takes certain liberties, of course, and that is to be expected with any
adaptation. To begin, Ichabod is no longer a hapless school teacher, but a police investigator
from New York who is on a crusade to prove that science can better get results than torture
and assumption. His superiors, in an attempt to quell his meddlesome nature, send him
off to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of murders where the
victims' heads had been lopped clear off.
And, of course, Ichabod goes off to the town of Sleepy Hollow and is told that all the
murders had been caused by the Headless Horseman. In a flashback sequence we are shown
the Horseman's origins, as a German mercenary who was vicious in keeping the new immigrants
in line with the country. The fabulous Christopher Walken plays the Horseman in these
sequences, which prove useful not only to show the origins of the Headless Horseman, but
to also move the plot along.
There are, however, some flashbacks which seem pointless, such as the examination of our
Ichabod's own past. These sequences add nothing to the story, and they serve only to explain
Ichabod's obsession with science and his lack of belief in anything religious. And, while
this information may have been useful, it was still not quite needed. Or, at least, it could
have been shown in a way that would have made it seem less important to the story. As it
stands, Ichabod's past is shown through a series of short dream sequences, each one leading
up to the next until the entire story is put together. And while this is a good technique
to employ, it would have been better served to explain an important plot point instead of
this tidbit of character revelation.
And yet, this does not take away much from the movie itself. The movie is full of classic
Burtonisms. It's dark, gothic, eery, and twisty. The visuals are beautiful, nothing less.
But the warning must be said that the murders are depicted quite graphically. When a man's
head is lopped off, the camera does not cut away. You get to see it. There is one point when
Depp's Ichabod is examining the body of a newly murdered man, and you get to see the stump
that's left of his neck more than quite clearly. A closeup is given. Any and all murders
are shown in such a graphic fashion. Blood will pour quite freely as no detail is spared.
Pair this with the fact that this movie is dark and eery, and that the Horseman himself is
quite the scary spectre, this movie is most definitely not for the young'uns.
The Horseman himself is played by Ray Park. And, yes, that is the same Ray Park who stole our
interests, curiosity, and fascination as the ultimately evil Darth Maul from Phantom Menace.
The fight scenes are more than impressive. There are points where the Horseman actually
gets off his horse to fight on the ground, and these scenes are among the most impressive that
you'll ever get the chance to see. Simply amazing to see him fight with an axe in one hand
and a sword in the other (or two axes, I can't really remember which).
Also worth noting is the fact that the movie plays like a murder mystery. There is an obvious
connection between the murders, we know this from the very beginning of the movie. But what
is it? It's up to poor, hapless Ichabod to discover this. And while it is quite interesting
to watch him go about this endeavour, it's also not fabulous. You see, if you are going to
turn a horror into a horror/mystery, you must make certain that all of the suspects are obvious
(which they are, in this movie) and that the evidence is there for the audience to be able to
draw their own conclusions. While the mystery is there, it's there for entertainment and story
value only. While there is no problem with this, I prefer a mystery to be something that the
audience is encouraged to solve for themselves through examination of the evidence presented
to them, not through speculation, which is what happens here.
This fact aside, though, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is quite the movie. It's spooky, eery,
though only at one or two points is it downright scary. It begins well, and it also (to my
surprise) ends well. It's beautiful to look at, although dark, and all the actors and actresses
involved all do a fabulous job (let us not forget Christina Ricci in the form of Ichabod's
love interest and a key player in the story). If you have the time, go see this movie. It's
well worth your money.