Customer Reviews

NEW Sleepy Hollow (DVD)

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I love this movie! But why 2 stars? This transfer is one of the worst I've seen. I have the DVD and the difference is not worth the purchase of this blu ray version. There is an unnatural level of grain and loss of detail in the blacks that is not the same in the DVD. This one needs to be remastered, for sure.

I get a nack for literary movies (as I said many, many times), even from the classic horror novels, with literature's famous monsters : Count Dracula, The Frankenstien Monster, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Phantom of The Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and...The Headless Horseman; and also I love Tim Burton's films (a few of them actually).

Out of the versions of this classic Washington Irving story, I love both the Disney animated version narrated (and sang) by Bing Crosby, and this gruesome, Gothic film version starring two of my favorite actors - Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. In this version, Ichabod Crane is a constable from New York in 1799, who is most concerned with all the new scientific gadgets that will allow him to do his job better. However, he is quite squeamish about his latest assignment: traveling to the town of Sleepy Hollow, where there have been a series of murders involving people whose heads have been cut off. Upon his arrival, the four town elders informs him that the three victims were killed in open ground, and the heads had disappeared - taken by a headless ghost that is supposedly responsible. Ichabod is unconvinced of this, but learns more about the ghostly horseman - it is the ghost of a vicious Hessian sent by the British during the revolutionary war, and he was caught by redcoats and decapitated with his own sword. When Ichabod sees the ghost kill one of the town council members, his skepticism evaporates - and he soon discovers that the horseman's ghost has an unholy connection to Baltus Van Tassel, a wealthy farmer - and whose daughter (named Katerina), Ichabod is falling in love with.

Overall, this is an awesome film, Johnny gives it wit, humour and charm; this film is also great for the October month, close to Halloween (or any month).

Tim Burton's films, often praised for the intensity of their mood, bring with them a glimpse of the darker side of the human psyche. His characters are often dis-jointed, dark, but at their core, always human. Often, his films are as centrally located around an individual, quite often the title role of the story....such examples include the title characters of films like "Edward Scissorhands, Jack Skellington of "A Nightmare Before Christmas", and Bruce Wayne in "Batman". It is his central character that the story seems to evolve around, and it is often seen from that perspective, providing the audience a narrative thread that they can relate to throughout the film. The same is true of "Sleepy Hollow".

Loosely based on "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving, Burton's "Hollow" is seen from the perspective of Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp (formerly seen in Burton's "Edward Scissorhands")), a New York detective/criminal investigator who is sent to the farming community of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of several of the local townsfolk.

Burton weaves elements of the original "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" into his story, while creating backstory to further develop all the characters, from the families in Sleepy Hollow, to Ichabod Crane, even to the Horseman himself, centralizing the narrative of this story around Crane's investigation into the murders. While in Sleepy Hollow, Crane quickly learns of a conspiracy that seems to exist amongst the principals of the townfolk. With the aid of Young Masbeth (Marc Pickering), whose father was murdered by the Horseman, and Katrina Anne Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), Depp's love interest and daughter of the town's acting governor, Crane's investigation quickly leads him on a hunt that will take them to the very heart of evil, as they learn the fate of the Horseman, a Hessian Mercenary sent to fight in the American Revolution before falling to the sword when betrayed by two mysterious little girls many years before.

Filled with rich imagery, lavishly created special effects, and plenty of genuine frights, "Sleepy Hollow" promises to bring thrills, chills, and plenty of scares. Moreover, though, the story uses horror to aid the story, not replace it. Unlike so many horror movies released in the past ten years, Hollow does not rely on gore to create thrills, but instead, (as with most of Burton's work), it uses subtle mood, growing tension and human vulnerability to really bring the story home in a way that is both terrifying and immensely engaging.

Rated R for violence, gore and brief sexuality, this is not a film for the young. However, for anyone looking for a good scare with a great story, this is the film for you. (NOTE: This film is a departure from the original story by Irving.)

There are only a handful of movies that I consider to be the true Halloween classsics... and "Sleepy Hollow" is one of them. Loosely adapted from Washington Irving's story, this Tim Burton classic is part romance, part detective story, and part gothic horror -- and Johnny Depp helps elevate it to a brilliant supernatural thriller.

Constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is sent to the tiny town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of murders. He soon learns that the locals believe that a monstrous undead Hessian known as the Headless Horseman is the one who's beheading people. As a rational man of science, Ichabod thinks this is ridiculous... until he has a close encounter with the Horseman after he committed some of his murders.

But Ichabod is still convinced that someone living is controlling the Horseman, and it's all wrapped up in a complex scheme involving a pregnancy, a marriage, a will, and a tangled family tree. But as deaths stack up and heads roll, Ichabod and his orphaned servant Masbeth (Marc Pickering) discover that they are up against evil that they couldn't have even imagined.

"Sleepy Hollow" is vintage Tim Burton, back when he was a little more restrained about said style -- everything is painted in blacks, whites and greys with brief splashes of color (BLOOD!), eerie gothic buildings, and skeletal trees. And there's that little edge of rickety weirdness, especially when Depp whips out his buggy-eyed binoculars.

Now, it's not perfect -- the witch's hentai-tongue/eyeballs always make me burst out laughing. But Burton really infuses this movie with a sense of creeping, bloody horror that gets more and more nightmarish, peppered with moments of bleak humor (Ichabod trying to throttle the Horseman) and some really disturbing beheadings. It's a pretty sharp contrast to the rather sweet, shy romance between Ichabod and his host's daughter, Katrina Van Tassel.

As for Depp, he's absolutely perfect -- he plays Ichabod Crane as a young man with a horrifying past (which is revealed via dreams) and an abiding love for logic, science and reason. He's also pretty nervy, fragile and neurotic; how often do you see movie heroes who faint more often than the heroines?

Christina Ricci is rather wooden at first, but she improves a lot as we discover some of the secrets she keeps hidden. Pickering is excellent as a young orphan who latches onto Ichabod as a surrogate father, and Miranda Richardson is all spidery creepiness as Lady Van Tassel. Also keep an eye out for Christopher Lee, Michael Gambon and Christopher Walken's hilariously over-the-top Horseman.

"Sleepy Hollow" is all creepy atmosphere and weirdness, but it also has a solid story at its center. Blood, magic and a deranged undead horseman, all done with Tim Burton's gothic style.

Excellent cinematography and costumes, an excellent period piece of Americana and intriguing interpretation of the Washington Irving classic. The casting was dead on.

I mean... it does not get any better than this. A horror movie with charm! Johnny Depp is outstanding in his role! If you like horror movies with great intrigues, this one is for you!

Sleepy Hollow is a wonderful film.it is very atmospheric,visually
stunning and very creepy.Tim Burton does a wonderful job of directing
here.this a very well paced film with excellent acting performances
from all.the great Johnny Depp plays the role of Ichabod Crane,a very
quirky police investigator who,due to his radical theories,is banished
to the remote village of Sleepy hollow.Once there it is his job to
solve the mysterious murders perpetrated by the Headless Horseman.the
movie is set in the latter half of the 18th century.The supporting cast
all put in great performances.This a movie that will disturb you and
keep you enraptured by it's beautiful visual style.Sleepy Hollow is
also a movie of substance.Burton recreates the time and place very
authentically.Though Burton can be hit and miss with his films,he hits
the mark with this one. 5/5

Great Plot. Great Characters. Great Lines. Great Acting. Tim Burton is a genius, Johnny Depp is gorgeous and talented as ever. What more can I say?

you know the drill on this one i hope.the story is way off,but the movie is quite good anyway.johnny depp is the star,ichabod crane.this is his best movie.the kids will get scared.this is timburtons only horror film and all others are kid-friendly.i think it is the best of many,many versions of this story including one by disney.a lot of people say they dont like it due to its inconsistencies with the book and that they just werent scared.i say ive never seen a film a hundred percent like the book and why would you want to be scared?entertainment is the idea not fright.if you go to church,youll want to skip this one also.demons,murder,witch craft etc.if the lights are off and your surround sound is blasting,this sounds incredible.a witch and a preacher type get busy but no nudity.johnny depp doesnt deserve any awards but this is the best movie he happens to be in.people give this movie a bad rap for a lot of stupid reasons.the real deal is its good.ive never seen a bad tim burton film yet and ive seen almost all of them.

In the trend of other Tim Burton films, the complextion of the film is creamy, and satisfying. It tells the common veiwer about Sleepy Hollow, yet puts new tantalizing details in the middle of well known scenes. It finally answers the reader of Washington Irving's book where this terror came from, and why it hunts and why it is indeed "headless". The cast is believable, yet the only weak point is Christina Ricci, who seems to be trying to hard to pull off her role. The cinematography is brilliant, something only Tim could do. It becomes dark at the right moments, and is bright and sugar-sweet when it tells the back story of Johnny Depp's mother, and once again is dark as it learns her fate. This film is not only wonderfully thrilling, but comedic in points where you would think it couldn't. Shall I say, they involve blood squirting, staining, spraying and squirting some more. Johnny Depp is a wonderful pick for this movie, as he gives us exactly what we want from anyone playing Ichabod Crane, plus a little bit more. Have fun, yet do not laugh for too long, or it will surprise with it's random and scary turns.