Tim Burton's macabre and lyrical movie-making style are put to use in `Sleepy Hollow,' a fine horror film for adults.
Burton says that he grew up fascinated by the "beautiful horror" (as he calls it) of Britain's Hammer Films (Hammer star Christopher Lee has a cameo in this film), and he tried to replicate that style in `Sleepy Hollow,' which is loosely based on the Washington Irving classic.
Johnny Depp plays Icabod Crane, who in this incarnation of the legend is a New York City constable/crime scene investigator circa 1800 who is sent up state to look into several murders in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. The murderer not only decapitates his victims; he also takes their heads. Crane soon learns he is dealing with a supernatural foe, a headless horseman.
Depp says he modeled his performance on Roddy McDowall (particularly in `Fright Night') and Basil Rathbone. He does well, although he struggles with a British accent. But the film seems to have a problem with accents, anyway. It is set in a colony populated by Dutch immigrants, but almost everyone speaks with a British accent (the movie was filmed in England) except Miranda Richardson, who is English! The film also has a problem with fainting. There are almost as many faintings as decapitations.
I won't give away who the headless horseman is. Let's just say he is perfectly cast.
Burton says that he grew up fascinated by the "beautiful horror" (as he calls it) of Britain's Hammer Films (Hammer star Christopher Lee has a cameo in this film), and he tried to replicate that style in `Sleepy Hollow,' which is loosely based on the Washington Irving classic.
Johnny Depp plays Icabod Crane, who in this incarnation of the legend is a New York City constable/crime scene investigator circa 1800 who is sent up state to look into several murders in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. The murderer not only decapitates his victims; he also takes their heads. Crane soon learns he is dealing with a supernatural foe, a headless horseman.
Depp says he modeled his performance on Roddy McDowall (particularly in `Fright Night') and Basil Rathbone. He does well, although he struggles with a British accent. But the film seems to have a problem with accents, anyway. It is set in a colony populated by Dutch immigrants, but almost everyone speaks with a British accent (the movie was filmed in England) except Miranda Richardson, who is English! The film also has a problem with fainting. There are almost as many faintings as decapitations.
I won't give away who the headless horseman is. Let's just say he is perfectly cast.