Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Starring Johnny Depp & Christina Ricci
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Washington Irving, Kevin Yagher &
Andrew Kevin Walker

 

This film would star a film icon Johnny Depp. Depp had been in acting for almost two decades, starting with the horror classic Nightmare on Elm Street as the boy who gets sucked into his bed and killed. He would eventually start his first of many collaborations with director Tim Burton in Edward Scissorhands and the two would work together again many times. Despite his amazing acting ability, most of his work wouldn't truly be recognized until his breakthrough work in Pirates of the Caribbean as everyone's new favorite pirate, Jack Sparrow.

This film would be one of the many works he wasn't recognize for until his breakthrough success. Depp here plays the famous Ichabod Crain, the central character of the original story, along with another well known actress, Christina Ricci. This film would be called Sleepy Hollow.

The movie begins with a scene showing the finalizing of a will, between Peter Van Garrett and the widow Emily Windship. As they finalize it with the Van Garrett Seal, Peter heads off to have the document formerly submitted. However, as he's driven there in his coach, something flies by his window. After hearing a sword being unsheathed, he looks out to see his driver beheaded. Jumping out, he flees into a corn field, but is sidetracked by a Scarecrow and finally loses his head.

Back in New York City (1799), some of the local policemen are drawn to the river where they find Constable Ichabod Crane who has found a dead man floating in the river. However, when he brings it to his superiors, they simply dismiss it as a drowning and deride him for wanting an autopsy. Crane is even more disgusted by how simply they throw a man away for burglary.

The next day, Crane goes before the Chief Magistrate, demanding they change their system which only infuriates some of his superiors. The Chief then offers him two options, either he can go to jail till he stops making a fuss or he can prove himself. He then tells Crain of the beheading murders in Sleepy Hollow and requests that he take his science and finds the answer. Reluctantly, Ichabod agrees.

After packing and releasing his pet Cardinal bird, the credits roll as it shows Ichabod in his carriage heading to Sleepy Hollow. As he reads his work and examines his tools, he examines some old scars on his hands. Once at Sleepy Hollow, he passes through the small town, noticing a man named Masbeth armed and taking guard in a watch tower.

At a house at the end of town, he is welcomed into a party (noticing a couple kissing wildly in the shadows close by). Inside, he walks into a circle game and gets a kiss by Katrina Van Tassel, much to the jealousy of Brom (with whom she's romantically tied). After a near skirmish between the two, Baltus Van Tassel comes out and greets him. He then shows he's come to deal with the murders, which the town is glad to hear.

After getting his room set up in the Van Tassel house, Ichabod meets Baltus, along with Reverend Steenwyck, Dr. Lancaster, Notary Hardenbrook and Magistrate Philipse. He then starts to question them, about both Peter and his son William Van Garrett, who along with the widow Windship, have been decapitated. After asking if they suspect anyone, they tell him that the heads were never found and it was the work of the Headless Horseman.

Baltus then tells him of the famed Hessian mercenary who came to keep Americans under control, only doing it more for the bloodshed than the money. We then see a flash back of the Hessian, on a black horse named Daredevil, charging into battle and violently killing anyone in his path. His teeth are filed down to sharp edges to add to his dark appearance.

It then shows that just twenty years prior during winter in the woods to the west, the Horseman's horse was shot and he had to flee on foot. As he hid, he saw two twin girls collecting wood, one of them revealing his hiding place. As the solders ambushed him, the Hessian manages to kill off most of them, until someone stabs him in the back and he is decapitated. We see him then buried, his sword as a marker, with his horse, wounded but alive over his grave.

Despite being shaken, Ichabod questions them on this. Steenwyck mentions his science and tools, but offers him a Bible as he thinks it'll offer him more help. Opening it, he discovers that the Van Garrett family tree is connected to the Van Tassels. Ichabod continues on to imply that the killer is a living person and that he'll discover him.

Later that night, Masbeth is watching from the tower and can tell something isn't right. As he readies his aim, he sees the horseman coming. After firing and failing to kill it, he flees into the woods, but is eventually beheaded by the horseman.

The next morning, Ichabod gets a horse from Killian, whose wife is the local Midwife and who he has a son with. Shortly after, it's announced the next murder victim is found.

As they gather around the body, Ichabod arrives and takes charge of the whole scene. Looking over the body, he figures out how the whole scene played out. He then checks on the wound, but is puzzled as the wound is cauterized from a hot blade yet there are no blisters or burns (to which the others call the Devil's Fire).

Masbeth is buried later that day with everyone in town attending including Ichabod, who noticing Katrina but gets a dark eye from Brom. After the ceremony, Young Masbeth (the son) asks to be Ichabod's servant as his mother is also dead and he wants revenge. However, Ichabod refuses. Shortly thereafter, Philipse talks to Crane and tells him there are really five victims (all this while Steenwyck watches from afar) and has Ichabod reconsider Masbeth's offer.

The next morning, Ichabod has all the bodies dug up and examines them. The widow Winships he finds unique as there is also a stab wound in her stomach. Bringing the body into Lancaster's study, he has the room emptied and begins his own autopsy into the wound to see its purpose. He then goes out to be greeted by the five town leaders who question his motives, until he reveals that the widow was pregnant.

That night, Ichabod is crossing the covered bridge when he starts to hear a sound. Looking back, he sees a headless figure on a horse with a burning jack-o-lantern following him. Frightened, Ichabod flees and is chased. In the woods, the horseman throws the jack-o-lantern at him and knocks him off his horse, and then rides away. It's then revealed that it was Brom with his friends pulling a prank on Ichabod, who then faints when he hears them.

As he's asleep, he has a dream of himself as a seven year old boy and sees his mother dancing blindfolded. He then dreams of her at the fireplace drawing witch symbols and showing them to him. The dream then moves to show him frightened in bed with her easing his fears with a flip toy that shows a Cardinal in a cage. Throughout this dream, he has constant visions of his father watching.

Ichabod then awakens frightened and heads down for a drink. Downstairs, he finds Katrina who is reading. As they talk, she reveals that her real mother died years ago and that the woman her father is with now was her nurse and is now his wife. She tells him of how they lived in a small cottage and offers to show it to him. Before leaving though, she convinces him to take a book of spells.

At the cottage (now torn down), she shows him an archer symbol in the fireplace and starts to draw (similar to his mother in the dream). As they see a cardinal, she talks about not being able to cage one, to which he shows her the toy.

That evening, Ichabod spies on Steenwyck, Philipse, Hardenbrook and Lancaster all arguing over something, and sees Philipse pack his stuff with plans to leave. Cutting him off out of town, Ichabod questions the Magistrate on how he knew about the widow's child, but fails to get an answer on who the father was. Hearing something in the distance, they see the Horseman charging out, sparing Ichabod but killing Philipse.

Finding Ichabod scared to death in his bed, Baltus tries to reason with him, but he is too scared to talk about anything and then faints.

Ichabod then dreams again, now of his mother twirling and flying and dancing. The dream then goes dark as he sees his father pointing at the drawings and then pointing at something in a Bible.

After awakening again, Ichabod struggles to comprehend what it is he's seen, but finally comes out and requests help. Astonished, he is still willing to go on; the others watch as Ichabod plans a trip into the western woods to find the Headless Horseman (but he only gets Masbeth to go with him).

As they travel in search, they talk about Masbeth's father who only worked for the Van Garrett family, but remembers that one night there was an argument between father and son that he was summoned for. Ichabod takes note of this before continuing.

Moving through the woods, they find a doorway into a cave and hear singing from inside. Inside, they find a woman, whose face is covered with her hair and a veil, assuming (correctly) that she's a witch. After asking for help, she agrees and takes Ichabod into the back of the cave.

While Masbeth waits outside, Ichabod watches as the witch chains herself to the wall and prepares a spell. After breathing in some smoke, she stops moving. When he tries to touch her, her veil lifts to show her face, eyeless and corpse like. She then jumps onto him (being held back by the chains), tells him where and how to find the Horseman's grave, and then collapses.

Back on track, Ichabod and Masbeth continue on until he sees a white clad person on horseback in the distance. After sneaking up, he demands they reveal themselves. It's then revealed to be Katrina, who came as no one else would. They almost share a kiss until Masbeth reveals he's found something.

The three of them then find a bizarrely shaped tree that is the Tree of the Dead. After seeing blood coming from the tree, Ichabod chops into the roots and trunk and pulls pieces away (getting very bloody himself) until he reveals all the heads the Horseman has taken.

Further investigating, he finds the horseman's grave which has been dug up already and the skull taken. He then deduces that whoever has taken it is the real person behind the killings. Before he can investigate more though, the Horseman erupts from the tree and charges for the town, with Ichabod following.

In town, Killian and his family have just finished dinner, but while his wife and son are in the back, the Horseman breaks in. He tries to fight him off but fails and loses his head. While his wife hides their son under the house, the Horseman comes in with his axe and the head of her husband and kills her. Before leaving, it turns around and cuts a hole into the floor and grabs the child (presumably killing him).

Brom, on guard, then arrives and aims his gun to shoot it, but after that fails, he tries to beat and stab the horseman, which also all fail to have any effect. As Ichabod arrives, he warns him that he's not the target, but he refuses to listen. They then attack the horseman with farming blades, getting a good stab in but doing nothing.

As they flee into the bridge, they hear footsteps, but don't see the Horseman. Too late, they then relize that he's on the roof. As they turn again, they see it landing behind them. He then stabs Ichabod in the shoulder and flings him behind him. As Brom fights off the Horseman, he fails to make a good defense and is cut in half.

Back in his bed, Baltus and Lancaster look over the wounded Ichabod while Katrina prepares a drink via witchcraft. As she arrives, Ichabod tells them of his discovery, but the two of them refuse to believe it. After drinking Katrina's drink, he passes out.

Dreaming again, he sees his father leaving a room in a chapel. Sneaking in after he left, Ichabod walks into a torture chamber. Seeing someone's eyes in an Iron Maiden, he jumps back with his hands landing on a spiked chair, scaring them. The Iron Maiden then opens, showing his bloody mother falling out.

Awakening into Katrina's arms, he then reveals his past to her. His mother was a Witch, practicing nature like witchcraft, but was condemned by his father and killed in the name of her soul and God. He was seven and he lost his faith because of it, and now being in Sleepy Hollow has made him face these faith struggles again. Katrina cheers him up, and the two embrace, despite her mourning of Brom.

When he awakens again, he finds he's in the care of Lady Van Tassel who has no option as Katrina is asleep and the servant girl Sarah has vanished. After she leaves, Ichabod and Masbeth go over everyone who's died or seems suspicious. As they talk of the Van Garretts, he has a thought.

At the Notary's, they start to search until Hardenbrook comes out and wishes to be left alone. He then goes deathly pale as Masbeth finds his father's handbag and finds a new will inside. The new will shows Van Garrett leaving everything to the widow Windship who he also married in secret and was the father of her child. He then reveals how they all had parts to play: the Reverend married them, the doctor took care of Windship's pregnancy, the Magistrate kept the law and the Notary filed it all. He then deduces one man who could gain it all from there deaths, Baltus Van Tassel.

Back in his room, they find Katrina waiting for them. She informs Ichabod that her father and a few others wish him to return to New York, particularly because of some of his notes he had written down. After she leaves, he sees a spider and is frightened by it. When Masbeth moves the bed to kill it, they find a witch star drawn under his bed.

Ichabod ponders on what it could mean until that night, when they hear someone leaving the house. He and Masbeth follow as a cloaked person goes out into the woods. Alone, Ichabod sees the Lady Van Tassel with a man is above her, kissing her body. She then takes a knife and cuts her hand.

Returning a bit sickened, Ichabod finds that his work has been stolen. Back at the cottage, he finds Katrina has stolen and burned his findings. After some harsh words, he admits that he thought there was love between them, but he can't go back on what he has found. She then curses him and rides away.

Back in the house, he talks with the Lady about Katrina, but avoids her hand wound until she brings it up. Showing him the wound, she tells him she knows she saw him and makes him swear he'll never tell. Its then that Baltus comes in with shocking news that Hardenbrook has hung himself and that there's a meeting in the church that evening to get rid of Ichabod.

As people gather at the church, Baltus rides to get his wife who is collecting flowers, but he is horrified to see the Horseman approach her with his sword in hand. As the people gather, he arrives at the church to give warning, telling Katrina that her step mother is dead and that the horseman is coming.

It's then that the Horseman charges into town, Ichabod and Masbeth also fleeing into the church. While the Horseman is blocked (he can't pass onto holy ground), chaos issues inside as several people try to shoot it from the windows. Meanwhile, Steenwyck grabs Baltus and demands they give him up as he's the target. Seeing this, Katrina sinks to the floor and begins to draw something.

Baltus gets a pistol and defends himself. When Lancaster is about to reveal the whole scheme, Steenwyck takes the church's cross and knocks him in the head with it, killing him. Baltus shoots him in response, and then flees to the front of the chapel where he tells the people of the conspiracy. Katrina then looks at Ichabod to prove she was right. While this all happens, the Horseman gets rope and a sharp piece of fence post.

When Baltus is visible from the back window, the Horseman throws the wood like a spear and impales Baltus. As Katrina watches in horror, the Horseman then pulls him out and brings his head past the fence line. As Ichabod and Katrina watch, the Horseman claims his head. After she faints, Ichabod sees the exact same circle drawn on the floor from under his bed, drawn by Katrina.

The next morning, he bids her farewell as she sleeps, and then burns his work book. As he's about to leave, Masbeth confronts Ichabod about Katrina. The two get angry when Ichabod deduces she's the one behind the whole thing. He then bids farewell and leaves on his coach, with Katrina waking up and seeing him leave from the window.

As he travels through the town, Ichabod notices the Lady Van Tassels body being hoisted away (the same scar on her hand) and then starts to question it all. He then reads Katrina's book and finds that the symbol she drew was a protection spell. Turning back, he investigates the body and finds that the wound on the hand was made post death.

It's then that the Lady Van Tassel appears to Katrina, who faints in shock. After casting her spell with the Horseman's skull in the Van Garrett Windmill, Katrina awakens and questions her, she then reveals she faked her own death by killing the servant girl Sarah.

As Ichabod and the Horseman both race to the windmill, Lady Van reveals everything to Katrina. Her family was called Archer (hence the symbol in the cottage) and that after her father's death, her, her mother and her sister were cast away out of fear of witchcraft. Her mother then shortly died and the two daughters were alone until the day they saw the Horseman (her being the one who reveals his location).

While Masbeth sneaks in and moves to attack, the Lady continues and reveals that she wanted to raise the Horseman to take vengeance on Van Garrett, the landlord who left their family for dead and gave their home to the Van Tassels. She reveals she killed her mother and married her father to get close, then killed off the widow and Masbeth to tie up loose ends, along with the Killians who knew the secret of the Widow. She also kept the four town officials under control through lust (it was Steenwyck who was with her that night), drunkeness, fear and adultery (it was Lancaster who was kissing Sarah in the shadows). All that stands in her way now is Katrina, who inherits all she gets after her death. She then reveals she also had to kill her sister who aided Ichabod (the witch), and shows she knew Masbeth was there the whole time.

As Katrina and Masbeth flee, Ichabod arrives but so does the Horseman. While the Lady waits to the side, the three of them flee into the windmill and are chased up it by the Horseman. Barely escaping, they climb to the top and drop a lantern down to catch fire and ride the sails to the ground.

After the Windmill explodes, they flee as the Horseman is unscathed. While they race through the woods, Ichabod and the Horseman get into a duel on the back of the coach, Ichabod nearly being killed several times. Eventually, they break the horses free from the coach and flee, leaving it to crash with the Horseman.

The three of them then come to the Tree of the Dead, but are confronted by Lady Van Tassel who tries to shoot Katrina, but instead shoots Ichabod. While she holds Katrina for the approaching Horseman, Masbeth is shocked to find Ichabod still alive. He tackles the Lady off her horse and the two fight for the skull.

While Masbeth knocks out Lady Van Tassel, the Horseman grabs Katrina and readies his blade. Just before he swings, Ichabod grabs the skull and throws it to him. The Horseman then lets Katrina go and reclaims his head.

When Katrina joins him, Ichabod reveals that her book saved him (taking the bullet). The three of them then look back and see the Horseman, now with a head turn to face them. Instead of attacking though, he gets back on his horse and picks up Lady Van Tassel. While the Tree opens up for him, she awakens and sees she's in his arms. As she gasps, he kisses her and sinks his teeth into her lips, making her bleed. He then charges into the tree, taking her to Hell with him. After that, Ichabod faints again.

The film then cuts to the same road Ichabod traveled down to get to Sleepy Hollow. Back in New York, Ichabod, along with Katrina and Masbeth, prepare for a new life as the 1800's begin.

The film would take a lot of detours away from the original story. Ichabod was not a constable, he was a school teacher. Also, there is no presence of the witchcraft or realism vs religion that the film shows a lot of.

This film is the third of six collaborations between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, the others being Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Charley and the Chocolate Factory, The Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. There seventh will be released early next year with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

While Christopher Walken is credited as the Hessian/Headless Horseman, Ray Park did most of the scenes. He's most famous as Darth Maul from Star Wars (although none of his dialogue was his own), and would finally get seen and heard as Toad in the X-Men.

Instead of going the traditional rout for the SFX with being headless, Burton put a green mask on Ray Park's head and had it blanked out via computer, and then had a CGI neck collar put in every scene.

Christopher Walken was also nominated for Best Villain at the MTV Movie Awards.

On Inside the Actor's Studio, Johnny Depp though the execs would fire him cause he made Ichabod so girly.

My Rating: NC-11

The only biggy this film lacks is language, and that would be contributed to it being a period piece. Aside from that, there's a lot in this film. There's a good amount of the crimson for one, and not only people being decapitated (the Tree of the Dead scene). The corpses look very real as well. The themes involving witchcraft and religion are also very strong as well, hence my rating.

Before I wrap up, I would like to address something. A little while back, I gave my highest rating for a film. There was controversy, as it was the Descent, a very graphic and violent film. Understand that the rating of 12+ isn't just for 12 year olds, the + really means above. As to what age, it's not specified on purpose. The age above 12 is up to you, whether it's 12 and 13 or 16 and 17, it depends on the movie and the child's maturity. My rating is only half of it, the other half is yours. Please remember this for future NC-11 Ratings.

So, that’s it for this issue. Next time, we prepare for Holloween and explore it's origins. Til then, enjoy the screams.