Sleepy Hollow (1999 movie)- Review

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Directed by: Tim Burton
Released: 1999
Country: United States

Cast: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Marc Pickering, Christopher Walken, Jeffrey Jones, Casper van Dien, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths, Christopher Lee

Genres: Mystery, Horror

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review

The mysterious Headless Horseman and his purposes are scary and mysterious. Everybody in Sleepy Hollow are afraid of the Headless Horseman. The Headless Horseman is the main antagonist in Tim Burton's ''Sleepy Hollow'', and the character is with a past and purpose, which is revealed in course of the film.

Dark, scary, mysterious, violent, but overall beautiful, ''Sleepy Hollow'' is an overall good film by Tim Burton. But it's main fault is that at the middle of the film, when the solutions to the mystery start, there are so many details that we actually get a bit confused.

But more of that later, first let's discuss the storyline. Ichabod Crane is a handsome young Police Constable, and is sent to a place named Sleepy Hollow, to investigate for three mysterious murders that have taken place in that place. The bodies of the three murdered persons have been found with their heads separated from their bodies, and when he arrives at Sleepy Hollow, people inform him that their heads are not just separated, but also missing. They are taken away by the Headless Horseman, a ghost and the film's antagonist.

Ichabod comes to learn about the Headless Horseman's past. As the murders continue, he works hard to solve the mystery. 

But that's exactly when the film gets puzzling. In solving the mystery, Ichabod comes across so many facts that we actually get confused. The film looks promising at first, but this is where it gets confusing.

But, however, these confusions go away when the twist starts. And the twist is a complete solution to the mystery that makes us amazed and wondered.

The film is not as empty as I have described in the storyline above. There are many more characters involved in the mystery, in some way or the other. In Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod is sheltered by Baltus van Tassel, played by the brilliant Michael Gambon. His wife, Lady Van Tassel, is played by Miranda Richardson, another brilliant actress. Baltus Van Tassel's daughter, Katrina is played by Christina Ricci. Another major character is Young Masbeth, played brilliantly by Marc Pickering. Young Masbeth is the son of a murder victim, and helps Ichabod. And there are some more character, such as the other murder victims, but let's not go into more details.

The film is amazingly beautiful with the excellent cinematography, and the scares and thrills easily comes. Like other movies by Tim Burton, this film also deserves special praise for it's wonderful set decorations.

The movie is based on the short story ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'', written by Washington Irving, and first published on 1820.

With touches of humor, great background music, amazing set decorations, good acting, a good story and screenplay, the dark and violent ''Sleepy Hollow'' proves to be an overall impressive movie. All in all, a pretty good movie, and except some of the confusion at the middle parts of the movie, it's a generally good experience, what do you say?

3.5 out of 5!