Day 107: Sleepy Hollow

Or as I like to call it, probably the last good Tim Burton movie. But then I remember I like Sweeney Todd and have to correct myself. Anyway, I remember watching the Disney Halloween specials when I was a kid and they always had (besides the truly frightening Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia) the Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. The story always fascinated me and I was pretty excited when I heard Tim Burton (at that time, on a hot streak) was handling it with Johnny Depp.

I was not disappointed and I am still a fan of this flick today. Christina Ricci as the love interest and Christopher Walken's cameo were nice decisions. The whole thing, starting with Christopher Lee as the Burgomaster, had a very throwback feel to it. The sets were creepy and the whole thing evoked dread as much as anything. Making Crane a constable and not a school teacher was an interesting way to make the story into a mystery rather than a single incident. In the cartoon, there was always some debate over whether the horseman was really Brom Bones but in this one, that notion is put to bed fairly quickly. As a horror adventure, I think it works pretty well. Also, it helped that Depp was eager to make himself look foolish at every turn.

Not an all time great but certainly the comfortable old sweatpants of horror films.