Movie Review #64: Sleepy Hollow (1999)

I was going to save this for later in October but having just reviewed the pilot to to Fox's new show of the same name and story, how could I not?

Sleepy Hollow is directed by Tim Burton who is one of my favorite directors. I admire his gothic visual style, dark humor and the fact that many of his films are easy to watch. That is something you can't say about many directors is that you can pop in any of their films on a whim and enjoy them. And Sleepy Hollow is no exception.

The story goes that a young Ichabod Crane, played by a young Johnny Depp, is sent to a sleepy little town called Sleepy Hollow to investigate the unsolved murders of the towns citizens and solve the mystery of The Headless Horseman.

Of all of Tim Burton's films, Sleepy Hollow is the one that feels to be the most "Tim Burtony". What I mean by that is that Sleepy Hollow has perhaps the most Tim Burton elements. These are what I like to call the "Six Degrees of Tim Burton".

1.) Johnny Depp
2.) Tim Burton's friends fill the supporting cast (Ex: Christopher Lee, Jeffrey Jones, Martin Landau)
3.) Danny Elfman score
4.) Oscar winning art direction
5.) Style over substance
6.) Unintentional humor

Every single one of these elements is represented in this film. Let's start with the acting:
Johnny Depp was pretty good in this movie. It's always refreshing to be reminded that there was a time when Tim Burton gave Johnny Depp serious roles that didn't involve him getting decked out in white make-up. The supporting cast was also pretty good. Nothing special stood out about their performances except for Christopher Walken as The Headless Horseman. He made me chuckle quite a few times.

Danny Elfman's score is phenomenal. Just like with Depp, Burton and Elfman just click. They just understand each other so well. They're like the creepy version of Stephen Spielberg and John Williams. The visuals in typical Tim Burton fashion are lavishly macabre that completely immerse you in the scene. I actually find them kind of beautiful in a way.

The biggest issue I had with the movie is that with such a great story, this could have made a decent horror movie. It ended up coming off as silly and campy in the end. I mean really, how can you not laugh when someones head gets lopped clean off their shoulders and rolls in between Johnny Depp's legs? It could have been scarier, but I'm not complaining too much because I'm a wimp when it comes to scary movies.

Final Report: Sleepy Hollow might not be as scary as it could have been, but that is quickly made up for by the gothic visuals and elements, quick pace, entertaining action set-pieces and a phenomenal score by Danny Elfman.