Review of Sleepy Hollow (1999) by Berni E — 25 Jun 2016

Excellent atmospheric thriller is both fun and funny while being fairly frightening in some spots. Mostly it's about the set decoration which consists of the entire town of Sleepy Hollow, built from the ground up to meet Director Tim Burton's vision of what Sleepy Hollow should look like.

The acting is fine, if a bit silly at times, but this is actually a lighter mystery than conventional horror or gothic ghost story. Depp is fun as Crane, although Ricci is a bit miscast as the object of his affection.

And honestly, Burton could have made better use of Christopher Walken, who is reduced to a fairly inconsequential role. We rarely see him, except in very brief glimpses of head-chopping and off he goes on his dark pony.

I enjoy this movie a great deal, if mostly for the near-perfect set decoration, atmosphere and mood. Lots of nice images of spooky jack-o-laterns, misty fields and wet marshlands. It's alot of fun but seems to go on a bit too long and overstay its welcome.

15-20 minutes leaner might have been a wise move. But, overall it's a lesser effort from Burton but still one of his best and most enjoyable if you don't pick apart some liberties he took with the story.

Nice annual tradition to watch around Halloween.