Class of '99: Sleepy Hollow

As I was looking back at the horror films I wanted to feature this year, I noticed there were a number of them from 1999, each turning 20 years old. So, I decided to dedicate a week to these members of the Class of 99, so to speak. It was a banner year for horror with a number of unique films within the genre. I decided to kick things off in high fashion with a look back at Tim Burton's spirited and quirky take on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

Constable Ichabod Crane (played by Johnny Depp) is sent to the small village of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of murders. Upon arrival, he is greeted by Katrina Van Tassel (played by Christina Ricci) as well as her father Baltus (played by Michael Gambon) and stepmother Lady Van Tassel (played by Miranda Richardson). He soon meets with Baltus and the other town elders, Magistrate Phillipse (played by Richard Griffiths), Reverend Steenwyck (played by Jeffrey Jones) and Notary James Hardenbrook (played by Michael Gough). They inform him they believe the culprit to be the undead apparition known as the Headless Horseman. Skeptical and certain his culprit is made of flesh and blood, Ichabod begins his investigation using cutting edge scientific methods of his own creation, with assistance from the young Masbath (played by Marc Pickering). Soon enough, he comes face to face with the horseman himself. Surviving the ordeal unscathed, he realizes the Horseman is not killing at random. With the assistance of Katrina and Masbath, Ichabod tries to find out the connection between the Horseman's victims and put him to rest once and for all.  

The film was directed by Tim Burton from a script by Andrew Kevin Walker. The two do a great job expanding on and reinventing the classic Washington Irving tale into a a fun and scary piece of Gothic horror. Burton himself draws from the pantheon of Hammer horror films in the design of the film, creating a fantastic sense of mood and dread to the film. At the same time, they infuse the film with a cheeky sense of humor to keep things from getting too dark. It's a delicate balance, but they manage to pull it off quite well. The film is nicely de-saturated of most color with much of the film shot through blue filters. You really get a cold feel for Sleepy Hollow and how dead it seems, with the threat of the Horseman looming large. The production design of the film is positively exquisite in the way it crafts the village of Sleepy Hollow as well as the surrounding woods that are easy to believe are haunted. It adds a lot of character to the film that only helps the overall mood and atmosphere.  

The film has a fantastic cast led by Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane. He plays Crane as an intelligent man but also one who is throughly unprepared for dealing with something like the Headless Horseman, prone to repeatedly fainting after each encounter. Probably my favorite scene of the movie is Ichabod cowering in bed after his first run in with the Horseman, shaking in terror as he tells Baltus and Katrina of his encounter and them calmly responding yes, we told you there was a Horseman. It's a wonderfully comedic moment that is played perfectly by Depp. Christina Ricci is quite enchanting as Katrina Van Tassel, who proves to be a bit of a witch herself, working spells to help protect Ichabod as she watches over his investigation. She gives her character a lot of strength and smarts, as Katrina is one of the few willing to ride into the woods to track the Horseman with Ichabod. Michael Gambon is clearly having fun playing Baltus who is at once able to be welcoming to Ichabod while also seeming to be someone one hiding a secret or two. Christopher Walken makes a couple brief appearances as the Horseman in flashback (when he still had a head) and makes for a suitably menacing character, even if all he gets to do is growl as he mows through he opponents with a broadsword. It was also a nice touch to see Christopher Lee pop up in a cameo as the Judge who sends Ichabod to Sleepy Hollow at the beginning of the film in another nod to the film's Hammer Horror inspirations.  

I've always had a soft spot for Sleepy Hollow with it's creepy atmosphere and entertaining mix of humor and horror. The film is well directed by Tim Burton and his style really fits the material quite well. It's a handsomely mounted production that has a fantastic cast to match. If you've never seen it, or it's been a while since you have, it's well worth checking out and perfect viewing for the Halloween season.