Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Directed by Tim Burton
Skeptical young detective Ichabod Crane gets transferred to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he is tasked with investigating the decapitations of three people – murders the townsfolk attribute to a legendary specter, The Headless Horseman.
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12 films that influenced Sleepy Hollow
What critics say influenced Sleepy Hollow
Not only does it also have elements that recall Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932) and a certain amount of Italian horror, but it’s every inch a Tim Burton picture.
Is this his ongoing homage to the ridiculous looking Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis?
Interestingly enough and of note for trivia buffs, the horseman's ride, when not represented by the real thing, is the retrofitted mechanical horse that Elizabeth Taylor rode in 1944's "National Velvet."
There’s little doubt that the windmill in Sleepy Hollow is drawn from Hammer’s Brides of Dracula (1960), or that the manner of Michael Gambon’s death is straight out of their Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968).
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A bleached white church aisle centered on screen and blood which seems to fill the photographed space effectively recalls the centered framing and elevator of blood in Kubrick's The Shining.
Re-teaming with his old collaborator, production designer Rick Heinrichs, proves to be a great move for Burton and the look of the film evokes the best parts of Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands and Mars Attacks!
"Sleepy Hollow," like 1992's "Bram Stoker's Dracula," is an invigorating, sophisticated horror film that confirms you don't need a group of dimwitted teens being stalked and slashed to be successful.
But consider that in the 1990s, Burton made Batman Returns and Sleepy Hollow ; in the 2000s, he made Planet of the Apes and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .
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Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (A Little Princess, Like Water for Chocolate) tightly composed color palette captures the landscapes agony, while Costume Designer Colleen Atwoods period garb will probably wrestle one of a few technical nominations the film rightfully merits.
She falls for Ichabod, much to the chagrin of her beau, played by Casper Van Dien ( "Starship Troopers" ) -- doing his very best Billy Zane-in- "Titanic" imitation.