Sleepy Hollow (1999)

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Halloween Reviews 2020

Director: Tim Burton

Writers: Kevin Yagher & Andrew Kevin Walker, from the story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving

Stars: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Caspar Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones
Director Tim Burton excels at developing moody, dark atmospheres for his films, and it is the milieu of Sleepy Hollow, with its severe architecture and dark, creepy forests that stands out. 
However, there is more to this film than that: Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci turn in fine performances, as do an expert cast of seasoned character actors. 
Washington Irving's classic story has been reimagined successfully by Burton and his screenwriters, Kevin Yagher and Andrew Kevin Walker. 
In this version, Ichabod Crane is an iconoclastic New York police inspector who is an early believer in the value of forensic science. 
Exasperated by his insistence on adhering to scientific method, his superiors send him to Sleepy Hollow to solve a series of decapitation murders. 
Crane is a reluctant hero with a weak stomach--he is afraid of spiders and his first encounter with the Headless Horseman causes him to lock himself in his room for three days! 
All of this makes for a supremely entertaining mix of thrills and humor.


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