Sleepy Hollow (1999) Movie Review - Tim Burton's Brilliant Take on a Classic

We are back with another entry into our Fall Themed Horror series. Today we are taking a look at Tim Burton’s supernatural horror movie Sleepy Hollow. Once again I am quite happy to be reviewing a movie that is unequivocally set in autumn. Featuring a number of Tim Burton’s favourite themes including Jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and excessive amounts of cleavage, Sleepy Hollow is a fun Hollywood horror.

I feel like this movie is unlike anything I have reviewed before. Sure, Knockout Horror is a relatively new site and 2022 is the first year I have put actual time and effort into it. With that in mind, however, I have reviewed a decent range of stuff. From big name movies to animated horror, from found footage to independent flicks and plenty in-between. Nothing feels quite like Sleepy Hollow. It’s a strange movie to place. Take away the decapitations and blood and it could almost be a fun family romp. That being said, let’s get a little deeper into it.

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow is a story that is, probably, familiar to most people. New York city police constable Ichabod Crane, played by Johnny Depp, is dispatched to the town of Sleepy Hollow to get to the bottom of the mysterious murders taking place.

A headless horseman, the supposed spirit of a deceased Hessian warrior played by a terrifying looking Christopher Walken, is apparently killing the townsfolk. The only question is why? Crane, using his modern, scientific, method of investigation. Is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Whatever the cost.

Gothic Supernatural Horror

Sleepy Hollow is a gothic supernatural horror movie with some significant nods to the British Hammer Horror era of the 70s. Originally earmarked to be directed by special effects guru Kevin Yagher, Sleepy Hollow was all set to be a low budget slasher. Differences between Yagher and Paramount Pictures led to him being replaced by Tim Burton who was given a bigger budget and far more creative freedom. What resulted from that is a quintessentially Burton film with a high profile cast and buckets of gore.

Burton had never directed a true horror movie before, despite him claiming that it is his favourite genre. Deciding to create Sleepy Hollow as something of an homage to 60s and 70s British horror, Tim Burton used many of the same techniques as movies made in this era to give the film the same feel. Using sets built almost entirely on sound stages, Burton retained control over every facet of the movie’s look and aesthetic. Filmed almost completely in the UK, the production required a full town to be built to create the exact look that the movie required. The results were very impressive with a suitably period looking environment laced with Burton’s trademark visual touches to make something rather unique.

Mystery and Suspense

Sleepy Hollow begins as somewhat of a mystery movie. The Headless Horseman is something of an enigma. A boogieman to the people of the town. His story is expanded on gradually as we uncover the motive for the killings. The viewer is placed as something of a companion to Ichabod Crane. Though we see events taking place, we are never really given an explanation for them. It is only when Crane uncovers the mystery that we start to learn a little more about what is going on.

This slow unravelling of the story makes for some seriously suspenseful moments. It is never very clear what the motives behind the killings are. This means you are never really sure who will be the next victim. The appearance of the horseman is accompanied by heavy winds and fleeing animals. This visual cue does a fantastic job of adding to the tension of the movie and builds up a few genuine horror scares. The fact that our protagonist is somewhat inept only adds to this. Crane feels a bit useless and his sensitive disposition lends itself well to a feeling of vulnerability. He doesn’t feel like a hero so much as a scared person attempting to do his job.

 A Heavy Action Leaning

What might be quite surprising about Sleepy Hollow is just how much it leans into being an action movie. You would be forgiven for assuming that the horseman arrives, removes heads and leaves much like any slasher villain. This isn’t always the case, however. The horseman is incredibly adept at wielding numerous types of weaponry and his skills riding a horse are particularly noteworthy. Skilled Scottish stuntman and actor Ray Park, perhaps best known as Star Wars’ Darth Maul, doubles for Christopher Walken for the horseman’s action scenes. He brings along an almost cartoon like ability to swing swords and axes.

Many of the scenes are fast paced and full of flair. We have a whole bevy of interestingly choregraphed sword fights, horse chases, explosions and the like. As we reach the final stanza, the movie pretty much transforms into a full on action flick. With this in mind, it is actually surprising that the movie features so much gore. Kids would be sure to love some of the chases and fights in the movie. I would go as far as to say it all feels a little bit out of place in a horror movie.

A Compelling and Humorous Story

The story of Sleepy Hollow is, obviously, a classic American tale. Dating back to the 1810s, the film is based on the gothic short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Taking a fair amount of creative license, Tim Burton’s telling of the story is significantly different and a few of the characters are changed. These changes go a fair way to transforming the story into a compelling and engaging supernatural horror movie.

Ichabod Crane, as a character, is softened in this retelling of the story. Far more sympathetic and focusing less on his strange appearance, Crane is a likeable character with only good intentions and justice at heart. No longer a schoolmaster, Crane is a constable concerned with helping the people of Sleepy Hollow. The horseman is still a Hessian Warrior but the spectre is actually real and not just a prank by Brom Van Brunt, played here by Casper Van Dien. The original story of Sleepy Hollow would likely not have held up in this modern age. While it could be produced with a whole ton of atmosphere, the story is not at all scary and the reality of the horseman undermines any sense of threat.

The fact that the horseman here is real and actually claiming victims works fantastically well. The mystery of the story and the constant question of “who’s next?” keeps the viewer on edge from start to finish. Added to this is a subtle commitment to humour throughout. Johnny Depp is an underrated comedic actor with incredible timing and an ability to draw a laugh with simple expressions. His random fainting spells and general intolerance for gore make for some genuinely hilarious moments. Combined with Andrew Walker’s witty screenplay, Sleepy Hollow is a legitimately funny movie throughout.

Excellent Acting

Acting is incredibly solid throughout. It is pointless picking out poor performances as there really aren’t any. With that being said, Christina Ricci perhaps struggles a little as Katrina Van Tassel. Fans of Ricci will probably point out how different she looks in this role. Typically found to be playing slightly awkward, outcast, characters. Ricci is a fantastic actor that has probably not gotten much of the praise she has deserved for some of her roles over the years. Transitioning from child actor to serious adult actor while maintaining a high profile is not an easy task.

Ricci looks incredibly fitting as Katrina despite her, seemingly, not matching the stereotypical blonde beauty role. She absolutely stands out thanks to her stunning outfit design, magnificent hair, and pasty complexion. Ricci’s strong Irish and Scottish ancestry work wonders for her here. I imagine many people perhaps think of her first when Sleepy Hollow comes to mind. Her colour palette and flowing clothes stand out against a backdrop of drab, grey, characters. Ricci risks putting on a Winona Ryder in Dracula-esque performance for a little while here. She struggles a little with line delivery in parts but warms up tremendously as the movie goes on.

A Standout Performance

The stand out performance here is Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane. Controversy aside, Depp, when he is invested in a role, is one of the best actors of the last 30 years. It is all the more disappointing that some of his performances, in recent years, have been lacklustre because few actors can become a character as well as he can.

Depp affords Crane a sense of delicate sensitivity that makes the character feel vulnerable and easy to like. His subtle micro-expressions lend humour to every scene. Nobody manages to mix silly and serious quite as well as he does. Completely unafraid to make a fool of himself, Depp never hints at any sense of irony when donning ridiculous magnifying glasses and using Crane’s bizarre scientific tools. A brilliant performance that is the highlight of the movie. It’s a real surprise that Depp has never been able to watch this film back due to disappointment in the way he acted.

A Typical Burton Movie

Despite Tim Burton not making any real horror movies up to the point of Sleepy Hollow’s 99 release, this is very much a Tim Burton movie. Aside from numerous references to his previous films including The Nightmare Before Christmas; the gallons of orange tinted blood and theatrical violence is something that would be seen again in Sweeney Todd 9 years later. Naturally, the cinematography, courtesy of Emmanuel Lubezki, is stunning. The autumn feeling of the movie is true to the original story with fallen leaves and jack-o-lanterns seen throughout.

Everything here feels very Burton. He clearly had a huge influence on the set design. The layers of fog covering much of the landscape are very typical of his work. Much of the movie is set in the dead of night. The lighting utilised makes everything look as if it takes place under a full moon. There is a slight feeling of surreal dreaminess to many of the scenes. We also see the use of flashbacks which is something Burton is well known for. Crane’s mum spinning up in to the air surrounded by a bright white backdrop is the type of scene that only Tim Burton could get away with.

It would be remiss of me to not also mention the heaving cleavages that Burton loves so much. Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd is further proof of this. Frequent collaborator Danny Elfman tags along for the soundtrack, further adding to the whole traditional Burton feel of the movie. Throw in a liberal helping of gore and some fantastic practical effects and you have one of the last truly great Tim Burton films.

Not For Everyone

This is, obviously, a topic that comes up often when reviewing horror. Few genres are as broad as horror. Horror is starting to feel more like a theme than a genre. It is often secondary to another genre, be it thriller, action, drama. This makes horror movies hard to define. Some people may class Sleepy Hollow as more of an action mystery whatever movie. With this in mind, it is reasonable to assume that some horror fans may not enjoy it. It is worth pointing out that some people just don’t like Tim Burton’s movies. If that is the case then you may want to avoid this film as Sleepy Hollow is very Tim Burton.

There is a humour throughout the movie that maybe doesn’t lend itself particularly well to full on horror. Sleepy Hollow could be described as somewhat campy. Think Hammer Horror for the modern age. There are buckets of gore and some genuinely scary moments, however, so I actually don’t think that the horror classification is a real issue. The fact remains, though, that Sleepy Hollow isn’t particularly scary. There are some tense moments and the horseman’s appearance always draws a feeling of unease. There is a decent amount of atmosphere throughout but the mystery of the story takes centre stage here.

The film turns into a, pretty much, full on action movie half way through and this is sure to put some people off. When the protagonist displays a lack of fear of the villain it can undermine the horror element quite significantly. That doesn’t stop the victim count growing, however. It just means that Sleepy Hollow feels somewhat like a mix between Indiana Jones and Friday the 13th.