File this one under very, very, very Halloweeny.Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorite movies to watch on Halloween. It also happens to be the only "scary" movie my wife will watch with me, but that's besides the point. The film, which came out almost exactly 10 years ago, fell between Burton's two fairly unsuccessful forays into sci-fi territory, Mars Attacks! and Planet of the Apes. Sleepy Hollow is the quintessential Tim Burton film, and I dare say it's my favorite of his movies.
I'll just make life easier for myself and make a list of just a few of reasons why this movie is awesome:
- Johnny Depp as a brilliant but scaredy-cat Ichabod Crane.
- An actual flaming pumpkin head.
- Purposely cheesy dialogue delivered perfectly, including this exchange between Depp and Christina Ricci (in her best role since The Addams Family): Katrina Anne Van Tassel: I have shed my tears for Brom... and yet my heart is not broken. Do you think me wicked?
Ichabod Crane: No... but perhaps there is a little bit of witch in you, Katrina.
Katrina Anne Van Tassel: Why do you say that?
Ichabod Crane: Because you have bewitched me.
- It has plenty of humor, but also features multiple graphic beheadings, as well as the off-screen slaughter of a cute child (not my wife's favorite part of the movie).
- An amazing supporting case, including Miranda Richardson, Jeffrey Jones, Michael Gambon, and Christopher Lee.
- The obligatory cameo by Burton's girlfriend-at-the-time, Lisa Marie (it's like looking for Hitchcock in one of his films).
- And of course, perhaps most importantly, Christopher friggin' Walken, as the Hessian Horseman himself:
If for some reason you've never seen this movie, this is the time of year to do it. It will bewitch you.
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