Review of Sleepy Hollow (1999) by Filipeneto — 27 Apr 2018

This film is the Tim Burton's free adaptation of the Washington Irving's classic, already several times taken to the screens. This time, Ichabod Crane is a police investigator sent to the village of Sleepy Hollow (founded by Dutch immigrants) to discover a killer who cuts and collects heads. Obviously the star of this tale could only be Johnny Depp, a bizarre movie buff and an old Burton collaborator, as well as one of the most versatile and talented actors of the day. The film also features Christina Ricci (a Wednesday from "Addams Family"), Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon and Casper Van Dien. Christopher Lee, who was the master of terror in the seventies thanks to his extraordinary voice and diction, also makes a brief but excellent appearance.

The cast is extraordinarily good and does a great job. No fish bones, as we say in Portugal. It does not deserve a single negative note: the good quality of the actors and the precise direction of Burton was a combination with impeccable results. Depp is effective, can even be funny when he can; Ricci is seductive, engaging and mysterious. Miranda Richardson does a good job but the script requires that only in the end we be able to see the true value of this actress. The scenarios and ambiance, deeply Gothic, gloomy and hazy, is mysterious and scary, preparing the audience for eventual scares and giving the film the atmosphere of a horror movie when, in fact, we are in a suspense thriller. The CGI is used with caution and prudence, getting good visual effects and sound without boring or saturating the audience, as it is supposed.

Not corresponding to the original story, it is however a very good film, appeals easily to the majority of the audience and is very well done. Certain scenes can cause big scares, but overall it's not a movie I would call scary.