(reviewed at marple 10 on Friday, November 19th, 1999)
Tim Burton’s latest directorial effort from the fantastically wild Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven, 8MM) script plays out exactly like the sprawled, headless corpses in the film, Sleepy Hollow.
It’s a great film to look at and to listen to and to just sit back and have a good time with, but it’s missing something vital, just like how the corpses in the flick are missing their heads.
Johnny Depp is Ichabod Crane, a New York City constable in 1799 who uses science and new technology he has created to solve his cases. Because he is seen as different, the New York City Judge, played by horror maestro Christopher Lee, sends him to the upstate farming community known as Sleepy Hollow. The catch? Three townsfolk had their heads lopped off in only a fortnight. There is a murderer in Sleepy Hollow, so it is Depp’s job to find him and bring him to justice.
As with any Tim Burton film, and especially with this script, the key is atmosphere. Sleepy Hollow can be described as atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. It’s all the film has going for it. It looks fucking incredible. The sets, the gnarled forest, the houses, the costumes, the time period is perfect, and of course unnatural and spooky at the same time.
Johnny Depp eventually shows up and is told that the murderer is none other than…a headless horsemen who rides into town from the dark and supernatural western woods and gets a head, then retreats. Depp is a science and facts kind of guy, so he disbelieves this, until he sees it first hand. It is eventually up to Depp and his new found friends to uncover the mystery of the Headless Horsemen.
The basic story, written by Washington Irving, is one of America’s best tales. While Disney’s cartoon reinforced the masterpiece it would become, the initial concept is jaw droppingly awesome in a scary as shit kind of way. Ichabod on his slow horse in the dark woods with sounds every which way. Suddenly hoof beats, heavy ones, loud noises. Oh shit! It’s a fucking headless horsemen! And depending on your version, he may or may not have a flaming pumpkin. In this one he has masterful skills with a blade he keeps twirling around.
Tim Burton has done his homework. The movie is all atmosphere and it is very entertaining when compared to any popcorn fare. But…there is a hole in the flick. While you are watching Sleepy Hollow and even afterwards, there is just something missing from the film. It’s all show stopping magic and no heart. It also has a severe identity crisis; is it a love story, a horror story, a supernatural story, an action movie, or all or none?
Sleepy Hollow is definitely the best eye and ear candy I’ve witnessed in years, and while there are plenty of great things to say about it, in the end it’s missing one important thing; a head. **1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment