SLEEPY HOLLOW
"Sleepy Hollow" is a no-nonsense old-fashioned ghost story complete with witches' spells, haunted forests, and things that go bump in the night. Tim Burton and his screenwriters waste no time in introducing the Headless Horseman and his trusty steed from the classic short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving. The ghost of the Hessian soldier cuts through the night after a runaway coach and his first victim. The mood is set, the milieu established, and the murky motive for murder is introduced.
Tim Burton reinvents The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by changing Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) from a bumbling superstitious school teacher to a bumbling pragmatic sleuth who is guided by, as he says, 'sense and reason' and his belief in the use of scientific inquiry to examine the 'cause and consequence' of crime. Pin size punctures in the palms of his hands, idyllic memories of his sainted mother, and the nightmares that plague his dreams are the only clues to his obsession with social justice. Ichabod's approach to his work makes him a thorn in the side of the New York City Court System of 1799, where the word of a man of means can condemn another, less fortunate, to the unspeakable horrors for the slightest infraction of the law. Murder in an old Dutch settlement in the upper reaches of the Hudson Valley is all his superiors need to rid themselves of the irksome Ichabod Crane. Faster than you can say, "Heads will roll," Ichabod is off to Sleepy Hollow to apply the tools of his trade.
The plot of "Sleepy Hollow" is fleshed out with a fully realized tale of the Hessian horseman (Christopher Walken) who lived for carnage and a conspiracy that centers on the last will and testament of the community's major landowner. A family crest, lust, and two sisters from the horseman's past are all parts of the riddle behind the murders. A witch, hooligans led by Brom Van Brunt, and a cast of shady characters who hold positions of power in Sleepy Hollow are all subject to Ichabod's scrutiny. Which one, he wonders, is wearing the elusive impenetrable mask of virtue? It may even be Ichabod's hosts, Baltus (Michael Gambon) and Lady Van Tassel (Miranda Richardson) whose daughter Katrina (Christina Ricci) has bewitched him beyond reason.
The plot of "Sleepy Hollow" is a rudimentary detective story but Burton keeps things moving at a brisk pace, relying on outrageous props, special effects, and photographic technique to keep things interesting. He may not be an action director - the chase scene at the end of this movie is not the nail biter it should have been - but he is a master at making eccentric characters believable and creating a fantasy world for them to inhabit. "Sleepy Hollow" is one of those rare instances where the make believe world of the prosperous sprawling village and the haunted woods seem to have a life of their own with their rolling fog, chill winds, and the threat of lightning beyond the cornfields. The computer effects and the mechanical creatures that are a staple of Tim Burton's work are used sparingly but to maximum effect. I don't want to give too much away here but the scenes with the Tree of the Dead where the Headless Horseman is laid to rest are mind boggling.
"Sleepy Hollow" grinds to a screeching halt for one brief moment to fill in the plot holes and catch its breath before lurching forward to its harrowing climax. "Sleepy Hollow" may not engage the emotions, but it is dazzling to the eye and it continues to stimulate my senses. If you're a Tim Burton fan, as I am, that ain't all bad!
Two more flicks from Tim Burton with Johnny Depp
"Edward Scissorhands" (1990) - Depp is the innocent creature in human form who finds his way into the heart of suburbia when his creator dies. He figuratively cuts his way into the hearts of women, and earns the jealousy of the male species who begin to see him as a threat. A modern fairy tale in every way about man's incapacity for tolerance. Johnny Depp IS Edward Scissorhands. You never doubt it for a moment.
"Ed Wood" (1994) - Depp is the true-to-life title character who became famous for making the most consistently bad movies of all time, like "Plan Nine from Outer Space,"
and Glen and Glenda. Martin Landau won a well deserved Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi who was in both of them. Ed Wood's zany friends are brought to life by a great ensemble cast that includes Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Jeffrey Jones among others. Vincent D'Onofrio has a great cameo as Orson Welles.
Some personal Depp favorites
"Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) - The original Freddy Krueger movie that still sends chills down my spines. Always my first choice for Halloween. Johnny Depp's first feature.
"Cry Baby" (1990) - A John Waters classic with J.P. as the rocker that makes the girls cry and mothers weep! A tribute film to Elvis Presley (though not in name) and all the white-trash-teen flicks of the fifties when Rock'n Roll was still the devil's music. Bizarre casting that works puts 50's celebrities, Polly Bergen and Troy Donohue in the same movie as Iggy Popp and Traci Lords. Also with Amy Locane from "Chasing Amy."
"Donny Brasco" (1997) - Depp is the undercover cop who suffers for the low level gangster he befriends to get to the big guys at the top, and suffers the pangs of betrayal. Think of Johnny Depp as an older version of his character in the hit TV series, 21 Jump Street, and you'll get the idea. A superior film in every way, with another great performance by Al Pacno as the mobster who treats Brasco like a son.