Sleepy Hollow

Rating:
Summary: Mediocrity in its purest form...
Review: I gave this movie three stars because, well, I am a partial fan of Tim Burton. To me, he is the Robert Smith (of The Cure fame) of the film world. However, if you've seen one Tim Burton film, you (almost) have seen them all. Why? Predictability. Design is always the same. Stick figure-esque, almost surreal imagery is in every flick. I recall seeing the previews for Planet of the Apes and before I knew who directed it, I said, "It's a Tim Burton film." Those in the know, get my drift.

This however, is a pretty middle of the road effort that just kind of works. I think this is the first time that Depp has teamed up with Burton since ES, but I could be mistaken. In any event, Depp gives a pretty solid performance. But, I am somewhat partial to Depp too, so take that opinion with a grain of salt.

Depp is, of course, somewhat outshined by Christopher Walken. But, in a manner of speaking, that truly goes without saying. Walken almost always exudes a vibe of a complete sociopath, even when doing something horribly mundane such as accepting an award at the VMA's on MTV. It's almost as if Walken is the possessor of the answer to some great riddle, we are alll working to solve.
But, you want to see a truly awesome scene with Walken??--check out the Christoper Walken v. Dennis Hopper scene from "True Romance." If ever there was a scene more worthy of memorization, I haven't found it yet.

At any rate, back to the movie at hand. Again, if you're at all familiar with the folklore behind this flick, it's pretty darn interesting. Beyond that, it is not something that you will repeatedly watch. Great scenery, good mood, predictable "surprises," and decent effects. You know Tim Burton, you know what to expect. However, I think that you'll find Tim Burton works best when doing his own material, and not a rehash of stories told before.

Rent it, watch it, save your twenty-five bucks for something a little more worthy.

Rating:
Summary: Like a painting
Review: The artwork in Sleepy Hollow is simply masterful. I am a sucker for American Folklore, and Sleepy Hollow really hits the spot. The dreary, late-fall atmosphere complements the "Halloween Feel." Definitely see this around Halloween!

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, mysterious, pitch-perfect horror/fantasy flick.
Review: The classic tale of Sleepy Hollow is brought blazingly alive in the competitive film year of 1999 and it has a lot to qualify for to be one of the year's best movies. Well, this movie has all these qualifications and more too! It is truly one of the modern greats and one of the year's best films. The film has awesome mystery, horror, comedy, romance and fantasy balled into a great and amazingly intelligent script by Andrew Kevin Walker. In fact, this is one of the most well written and clever horror films of all time. Some critics have dissed this movie's script but I really thought it was fabulous. To act out this wonderful script they cast Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, and they couldn't have made a better choice. Depp is in almost every scene, and he steals every one with his wit, great accent and great enthusiasm for the film. Christina Ricci is also very beautiful and mysterious, although a little out of her depth. I enjoyed Miranda Richardson's performance, and she has a surprising waiting in the end. The cinematography for the film is lush and stunning, the art and sets are fantastically Sleepy Hollow-ish, and the visuals are truly breathtaking. So much effort went into this film, and a lot of people brought the unforgettable story alive. But most of the credit must go to the visionary and endlessly plausible director Tim Burton, who, with his great ideas, vision, abilities and past credibility's, has the right stuff to make this movie the perfect horror-fantasy. This is one of the most memorable movies I have ever had the pleasure of watching, and one of the creepiest too. Sometimes I can still hear the headless horseman's stallion thundering along the forest, in search for heads to decapitate. I love this flick, and it kicks major butt, so if you're a Tim Burton fan, a person who enjoys the tale of Sleepy Hollow, a horror movie fan or just a movie fan in general, I can guarantee you won't be disappointed by this pitch-perfect masterpiece that is Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow!

Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC ELEMENTS
Review: Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci ride on... Sleepy Hollow is a spooky adaptation of the story of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman. Depp plays the skeptical city police inspector who comes to the small town of Sleepy Hollow only to be bewitched by the young Christina Ricci and to fall prey to the spells and superstitions of the town. Positively horrifying is Christopher Walken (you watch it and you will know what I am talking about. The guy is scary when you see him looking normally; this is just abuse for the eyes!) The story is well-told, acting is good, and the cinematography and scenery evokes the kind of imagery that is necessary for this to be believable. Overall a fantastic film (in the sense that it is successful in the realm of fantasy).

Rating:
Summary: A Movie That Is Sort Of "Sleepy" And "Hollow"
Review: I am not a particular fan of Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and most modern American movies. I would never have rented "Sleepy Hollow" if I were not a big fan of British horror film actor Christopher Lee. "Sleepy Hollow" is a forgettable yet reasonably entertaining thriller.

In 1799, Constable Ichabod Crane(Johnny Depp) is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of murders and bring the killer to justice. While searching for the murderer, Crane encounters witchcraft and a headless horseman.

"Sleepy Hollow" is not much more than a passable time killer. The film has a number of suspenseful moments. The twist-ending is interesting yet fails to fully satisfy viewers; M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense" and Robin Hardy's "The Wicker Man" had much more effective surprise-endings. The performances are mostly wooden. Christopher Lee's appearance as a judge only lasts for about a minute. Christopher Walken perhaps gives the best performance in the entire film. His savage portrayal of a Hessian mercenary is proof that acting is far more than merely reciting lines. Walken has virtually no dialogue and has only several minutes of screen time but he exudes an absolutely terrifying presence.

"Sleepy Hollow" is only for fans of both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp and those who feel that they need to see all the films of Christopher Lee and Christopher Walken.

Rating:
Summary: Burton delivers yet again... almost
Review: To say simply: Great Film. The atmosphere is absolutely gorgeous. It has the quality of a dream. Or, to some, a nightmare.
The film is filled with spurts of blood and gore and of course, headless corpses. But if you're a Tim Burton fan like I am and are familiar to Tim Burton's creative style, you won't be too surprised. Like Beetlejuice and Nightmare Before Christmas, the gore and horror are basically just a little bit of Tim's twisted humour, only this time it's a bit more graphic and yes, a little bit more vomit-inducing.
With a cast that includes Johnny Depp (Tim's trusted friend whom he's worked with in his other films such as Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood), Christina Ricci (who undoubtedly seems destined to play in a Tim Burton movie), Christopher Walken, and other well-known actors, this film is a hit and a half.
The story is based on Washington Irving's story about the a headless horseman who goes around decapitating townspeople. A forensic scientist strangely named Ichabod Crane was sent from the criminal headquarters of the world (namely New York in the olden days) to investigate the murders. He insisted that "ghouls and goblins" do not quite exist in crimes and believed that the murderer was a man (or woman) of flesh and blood. And boy did he get a bloody little surprise.
Despite the thoroughly gorgeous look of the movie, and the interestingly gory (and sometimes funny) moments in the film, the plot does run a little thin at times and get a tiny little bit boring. But this film is definitely worth seeing nonetheless. Don't call yourself a Tim Burton fan if you haven't seen this movie.
Watch out for a cameo appearance of the guy who played Batman's Alfred (I can't remember his name).

Rating:
Summary: BURTON AND DEPP OUTDID THE STORY!
Review: I always felt that the original story was good but over rated. Well, Burton and Depp outdid the story in every sense of the word. This movie grabs us right from the start. Making Icobad an officer of the law who defied his superiors and was sent to investigate the murders in Sleepy Hollow supposedly by a headless horseman was a great improvement over the original story. Right away we are offered true horror with the shocking flashback of the horseman's death. Burton also skillfully speeds through the events of the original story and tells us in a subtle way that this movie will be much more complex. Along with Icobad, we are gradually exposed to the reality that the terror from the past has somehow worked its way into the present. (Excellent!) But the drama and suspense do not stop here! We gradually learn that the horseman: "does not kill at random." So, what is the mystery behind this? Excellent suspense! I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who have not seen it. But I will say that we are actually given the option of offering the headless horseman a small amount of our sympathy. Without giving the story away, he is not exactly acting under his own will. (Shatters the boundaries of all rules! Excellent!) This movie offers us a wonderful combination of great action, drama, horror, suspense, and even some light comical moments. But the good points do not stop here! Tim Burton is not quite Franco Zeffirelli. The scenery may not quite match Franco Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth" or "Hamlet" with Mel Gibson. But just as in Burton's "Batman Returns," he offers us dramatic images that carry dignity. One common mistake HE AVOIDS is overdoing the blood and effects. For those of you who follow my writing, you know that the movie that frightened me the most was the 1979 "Dracula" with Frank Langella as Dracula and Laurence Olivier as Abraham Von Helsing. Well, this movie is a really close runner up. First you will enjoy trying to solve the mystery and seeing how it unfolds; then you will enjoy seeing how it all comes together. In this day and age when media seems to have taken a turn for the much worse, it is wonderful to know that a phenomenal masterpiece like this does turn up now and then. WARNING: BECAUSE THIS MOVIE IS NOT OVERDONE IT IS REALLY FRIGHTENING. YOU MAY NOT WANT TO WATCH THIS ALONE IF YOU'RE NOT USED TO HORROR.

Rating:
Summary: I saw it on HBO at my first view
Review: I thought it's pretty beautiful and very entertaining, and I enjoyed Depp's and everyone's performance. A few days later, I bought it and saw it in my room at the same night, I turned off the light...I made a big mistake. I was so relax until the 61 minutes, oh I almost cried...since growing into an adult this is the first time I was scared so much!!! It shorted the length of my life!!!

Rating:
Summary: weird
Review: weird but good.RATED R FOR HORROR VOILENSE GORE AND A SCENE OF SEX.SCARY MOVIE.THE GORE IS MOSTLEY HEADS GETTING THERE HEADS CUT OFF. GOOD MOVIE SEE ITCANT WAIT TO SEE IT ON DVD.F/X ARE EXELENT ESPESILY THE WIERD PART WERE THE HORSMAN GETS HIS HEAD BACK.

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Most Pleasing Horror Films In Years
Review: Sleepy Hollow is a marvel. Plain and Simple. Tim Burton has to be seen as a genius after this film. Sleepy Hollow is the kind of film where you get completely lost in the atmosphere. It is compelling and one hell of a ride. Everybody knows the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. The story, however, is turned around a little bit in this film. Some of it(More scenes of Headless Horseman, murders)needed to happen. The horseman wasn't even seen until the end in the original story. Today, I don't think that would work. These things needed to be changed to amp up the horror. And what delicious horror it is!. The movie is one of the most visually stunning films I've ever seen. It instantly hooks you in and never lets go. The acting is good too. Johnny Depp resembles the acting of old horror stars like Peter Cushing and so on. He was wonderful. Christina was almost ghostlike in her performance. She was intriguing. The best, however, was Christopher Walken as the Headless Horseman. He didn't have any lines and he didn't need too. The expressions, action, and grunting were enough. All in all, this is an exquisite piece of work. A must see for everybody.