For Whom The Heads Roll. Review on Sleepy Hollow Movie

Saw this film last night on the telly and figured that it was worth writing about. The film is based on the story the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irvine. The story is set in the year 1799 and tells the tale of Constable Ichabod Crane played by Johnny Depp, who because of his belief in revolutionary ways of investigation and deduction, is sent to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitation of Peter Van Garett and his son.

On arriving at Sleepy Hollow he is met by the town’s elder statesmen who are Baltus Van Tasell, Reverend Steenwyck, Magistrate Samuel Philipse, and Dr. Thomas Lancaster. It is they who tell him that so far none of the heads of all the persons murdered so far have been recovered and that the murders were committed by the Headless horseman who is the ghost of a Hessian warrior who was beheaded and killed in the nearby woods and has haunted them ever since. Ichabod starts to investigate the murders using his new investigative and deductive techniques but one night when he comes face to face with the headless horseman he realises that it truly is a ghost. As the body count increases it is up to Ichabod to trace the true reason for the appearance of the horseman and to banish him back to the hell he belongs to.

Sleepy hollow mixes effectively a modern murder mystery with the supernatural and witchcraft. The film directed by Tim Burton bears the characteristic dark visual effects seen within all his films and this greatly adds to the films eerie atmosphere. The film also mixes quite effectively a love story within it although this is not the major focus of the film. The sets and costumes are believable and the music adds to the general atmosphere of the film.

Johnny Depp is very good as Ichabod Crane and convincingly portrays his awkwardness at trying out these new techniques that he has read about but has very little practical knowledge of. The headless horseman is very good in his and is quite menacing in his roll without becoming a caricature of it. The special effects are good and although there is some gore in the film it is not out of context. It is not particularly scary but it does keep you engrossed, as a good mystery should. If you like gothic horror and good mysteries then you will like Sleepy Hollow.