Sleepy Hollow (film)

"Heads will roll."

- A poster advertising the film.

Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 period horror film directed by Tim Burton, interpreting the legend of The Headless Horseman and based loosely upon the Washington Irving story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The third film collaboration between Johnny Depp and Burton, the film also features Christina Ricci, Sir Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths and Christopher Walken.

The story centers on police constable Ichabod Crane sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman. The style and themes of the story take inspirations from the late Hammer Film Productions.

"Ichabod: Villainy wears many masks, none of which is so dangerous as virtue."
 * Adaptational Attractiveness: The original description of Ichabod Crane sounded nothing like Johnny Depp.
 * Almost averted. Johnny Depp originally wanted the full makeup to look quite unattractive, but the producers advised him to be himself.
 * Adaptation Expansion: This movie gives the original short story more characterization and a more involved plot.
 * Not only that, but
 * Agent Scully: Ichabod Crane is this at the beginning of the investigation until the supernatural nature of the crimes becomes obvious.
 * Anti-Villain: Arguably the Horseman. Although he is behind the many decapitations occurring in the town,
 * Although, that said, the reason why he was killed in the first place was because he was a Blood Knight Omnicidal Maniac. There is a very good reason that every time he rides out, he comes from the depths of Hell!
 * Ax Crazy: . At one point with a literal axe!
 * The Headless Horseman also has an axe and knows how to use it.
 * Best Served Cold: The Big Bad had been planning revenge since childhood.
 * Better to Die Than Be Killed: commits suicide by hanging rather because  expects to be the Horseman's next victim.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
 * Black Comedy: perhaps one of the few film to ever qualify as a black action-comedy
 * Bloodier and Gorier: Damn skippy.
 * Bloody Hilarious: Tim Burton actually tried to find as many excuses as possible to have Ichabod Crane sprayed in the face with blood.
 * Blood Knight: The Hessian.
 * Catapult Nightmare: Ichabod. A lot.
 * Children Are Innocent: Maybe that's another main reason why the Hessian spared the little girl's life.
 * Cool Horse: Next up on Pimp My Horse, we examine the Hessian's ride, Daredevil, as an example of Doing It Right.
 * Cow Tools: The autopsy sequence.
 * Cute Witch:
 * Dark Is Not Evil:
 * Dead to Begin With: The problem of asking, "Is he dead?"
 * Death by Adaptation:
 * Although considering that the movie bears little-to-no resemblence to the book, this is hardly that surprising.
 * Deliberately Monochrome: All the colours are dulled except for the blood.
 * Dragged Off to Hell:
 * Dual-Wielding: Used by the Hessian, to great effect, and Brom, not so much.
 * Eagle-Eye Detection: Ichabod's preferred method for solving the streak of murders.
 * Enforced Method Acting: According to the director's commentary on the DVD, during the scene in the church where the doctor is killed by a blow to the head, they accidentally hit Ian McDiarmid so hard that he ended up having to go to hospital.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: The Horseman has a habit of spinning his weapons during battles.
 * It's also mentioned somewhere on the DVD (maybe the 'making of') that Tim Burton specifically asked the special effects guys to make the heads of the victims of the Headless Horseman pop off and spin a few times after being beheaded. Cue demonstration of said special effects.
 * Fainting: Ichabod. A lot. Though he does manage to hold out until the scary thing is over.
 * Fake Brit: Johnny Depp as Crane, though to be fair he's from New York in 1799.
 * Technically, every major character in the movie with the exception of the Hessian Horseman would have been born a Brit (if you date the foundation of the US to the Treaty of Paris in 1783)
 * Fascinating Eyebrow: Ichabod's initial reaction to anything intriguing or unusual.
 * Fate Worse Than Death:
 * Fan Service: Burton's arm candy girlfriend at the time, Lisa Marie, shows up in some dream sequences.
 * As Ichabod's gorgeous mother. The script actually called for a scene for her to dance while loosening her top, until she was pretty much topless.
 * Ichabod himself counts as this.
 * Flaming Sword: Not actually in flames, but it is so hot from the fires of hell that it cauterizes any wounds it inflicts.
 * For the Evulz: The Hessian mercenary/Headless Horseman worked for the English for the fun of slaughter rather than for money.
 * Half the Man He Used To Be:
 * Headless Horseman
 * Hell Gate: The Tree of the Dead is where the Horseman travels between Earth and the underworld.
 * Hellish Horse: Daredevil.
 * Heroic BSOD: Twice.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: How the Hessian Horseman was killed... originally...
 * Horror Struck: Ichabod, after seeing the Horseman up-close for the first time.
 * Hot Mom: Ichbod's mom.
 * Lady Van Tassel is a Hot Stepmother.
 * The midwife Elizabeth Killian ain't that half-bad either.
 * Hot Witch: Ichabod's mom, although her status as a witch is debatable.
 * It's pretty much proven that Katrina is a witch (or just practices witchcraft), since she was seen making a potion and chanting a spell when Icabod fell ill.
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
 * Infant Immortality: Averted twice. One victim was beheaded whilst in its mother's womb.
 * In Name Only: Pretty much. In the Irving's story, Ichabod Crane was a school teacher who fully believed in ghosts, and the headless horseman never went on a killing spree.
 * Innocent Bystander: Ichabod survives many encounters with the Horseman on account of this. The Horseman is shown to ignore anyone who doesn't directly interfere with his taking heads or doesn't get in his way. Not that Brom listened...
 * It's Going Down: The windmill. Monster movies hate windmills.
 * To be fair, this was not an uncommon fate for windmills of the time, minus the hell-monster part. Flour is surprisingly flammable. Even explosive.
 * It's Quiet... Too Quiet: Note to city slickers: Forests are supposed to be noisy.
 * I Owe You My Life:
 * Kid Detective: Ichabod is described by Tim Burton as a thirteen-year-old girl-detective in a man's body.
 * Killed Mid-Sentence:
 * Large Ham:  cheerfully NOMS down any scenery that isn't nailed down or on fire after The Reveal.
 * Christopher Walken, surprising nobody, as The Hessian/Headless Horseman can be frighteningly hammy even without saying a line except yelling maniacally.
 * And the special appearance of Christopher Lee also counts.
 * Last Grasp at Life: How
 * Light Is Not Good:
 * Played with with Katrina. As she the only character to dress in light colors and ride a white horse, her significance is clear immediately to a Genre Savvy viewer. When combined with her witchcraft, this makes her legitimately suspicious by the time
 * Played with with Katrina. As she the only character to dress in light colors and ride a white horse, her significance is clear immediately to a Genre Savvy viewer. When combined with her witchcraft, this makes her legitimately suspicious by the time

"Roger Ebert: It's as if the Horseman gallops ahead in a traditional horror film, and Depp and Burton gallop right behind him in a satire."
 * Loophole Abuse: Sure the Headless Horseman can't enter hallowed ground.
 * Lovable Coward: Ichabod. Even after he toughens up a bit toward the end, he is still in the habit of using women and children as Human Shields.
 * Lovecraft Country: The town of Sleepy Hollow and surrounding spooky woods comprise a spiritual cousin, at least.
 * Mood Lighting: The entirety of the movie except the ending scene is shot with a creepy blue filter. The "red" blood is actually orange.
 * Mood Whiplash: The horror tone of the scenes with the Horseman are interspersed with the darkly comedic scenes with the bumbling Ichabod Crane.


 * Mr. Exposition: When the true villain is finally revealed, goes into a long, long Info Dump of raw, untreated exposition that details  entire scheme in agonizing detail.
 * Mythology Gag: Brom's fake Horseman prank closely mirrors Ichabod's encounter with the horseman in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
 * Noble Demon: The Horseman.
 * Nothing Is Scarier: Lampshaded in the woods.
 * Non-Action Guy: Ichabod.
 * He then later becomes an Action Survivor.
 * Oedipus Complex: Ichabod falls like a brick for the cute witch Katrina van Tassel. His mother was "an innocent child of nature"
 * Off with His Head: The Movie.
 * Ominous Fog: Rolls in and puts out the torches before the Horseman comes riding in.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Christopher Walken plays a pre-headless horseman, and has no lines other than "Shhh" and "Raaa!!", yet there are many people who consider it to be his greatest performance ever.
 * Also Christopher Lee, who shows up in one scene at the beginning as the magistrate who orders Crane to investigate the killings at Sleepy Hollow.
 * Only Sane Man: Ichabod thinks he's this.
 * Pet the Dog: The Headless Horseman clearly adores his horse. When it's shot at the beginning of the movie, he reacts with grief (indeed, had he not stalled to comfort it, he probably would have gotten away), and when they are reunited at the end of the film, he gives it a genuine (and surprisingly sweet) smile.
 * When he encounters two girls in the woods, he tries to shush them to prevent them from giving away his position, when he probably would have had an easier time of it by simply killing them.
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Since this isn't a poor town.
 * Pocket Protector: Ichabod is saved from a shot to the chest by Katrina's book.
 * Protective Charm: Katrina's pentagram.
 * Psycho for Hire: The pre-headless Horseman once worked for the Redcoats, not for money but for the love of killing.
 * Punch Clock Villain:.
 * Reality Ensues:
 * Scary Scarecrows
 * Screams Like a Little Girl: Oddly averted; Ichabod does everything like a little girl except scream.
 * He still manages to work in a handful of girly whimpers and gasps here and there.
 * Seeking Sanctuary: Almost works...
 * Shout-Out: The film opens with a man passing a cornfield that has a scarecrow standing up in it. Some may need a double take, but others will recognise it immediately from one of his other films.
 * The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad has at least three: the toads by the bridge croaking "Ichabod", a (fake) Horseman throwing a flaming pumpkin on Ichabod and Ichabod suddenly realizing he's on the horse of the Headless one.
 * The fact that Brom disguises himself as the Horseman to freak out Ichabod would count as well.
 * Also, the wooden bridge which the Headless Horseman can't cross in the story ... serves as a Hope Spot in this particular version.
 * Come to think of it, the dress Katrina wears at the end is the same material as the Beetlejuice tuxedo.
 * Sinister Minister:
 * So Much for Stealth: Played wonderfully straight when the Hessian who later becomes the Headless Horseman is escaping through the woods from Revolutionary War soldiers. He encounters two children gathering firewood and cautions them to silence with a finger to his lips. Without changing expression one of the girls deliberately snaps the stick she's holding, drawing the soldiers in their direction.
 * Stunt Casting: Look out for Martin Landau and Christopher Lee early in the film.
 * Torture Cellar:
 * Troubled Backstory Flashback: The fate of Ichabod's mother.
 * Unholy Matrimony: Played for horror (yeah, the irony) when  Lovely.
 * The Vamp:
 * The Voiceless: The Hessian unless we should count: YAAAARRRRGGH.
 * Wicked Stepmother:
 * Wicked Witch: Subverted with.
 * Would Hit a Girl: Both Ichabod and Young Masbath fall into this trope. Ichabod by body-tackling  off her horse and Young Masbath by smacking her over the head with a heavy tree branch!
 * Would Hurt a Child: The Hessian is sent to murder the midwife of the town and her family.
 * An earlier scene involves an autopsy of one of the female victims.
 * You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost: For very good reason, too...