Sleepy Hollow (film): Difference between revisions

{{quote|''[[Off Withwith His Head|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]].

** Almost averted. Johnny Depp originally wanted the full makeup to look quite unattractive, but the producers advised him to be himself.

* [[Blood Knight]]: The Hessian.

* [[Children Are Innocent]]: Maybe that's another main reason why the Hessian spared the little girl's life simply sushed'em.

* [[Death Byby Adaptation]]: {{spoiler|Brom}}

** Although considering that the movie [[Adaptation Decay|bears little-to-no resemblence to the book]], this is hardly that surprising.

* [[Everything's Better Withwith Spinning|Everything's Better With Spinning:]]: The Horseman has a habit of spinning his weapons during battles.

** 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)

* [[Fan Service]]: Burton's arm candy girlfriend at the time, [[Lisa Marie]], shows up in some dream sequences.

* [[For the Evulz]]: theThe Hessian mercenary/Headless Horseman worked for the English rather for the fun toof slaughter rather than for money.

* [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard]]: How the Hessian Horseman was killed... [[Dead to Begin With|originally]]...

** The midwife Elizabeth Killian ain't that half-bad either.

** 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 Withwith Extreme Prejudice]]: {{spoiler|Baltus van TassalTassel}}

** To be fair, this was not an uncommon fate for windmills of the time, minus the hell-monster part. [[The More You Know|Flour is surprisingly flammable. Even ''explosive''.]]

* [[Large Ham]]: {{spoiler|Miranda Richardson}} cheerfully NOMS down any scenery that [[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|isn't nailed down or on fire]] after [[The Reveal]].

* [[Last Grasp Atat Life]]: How {{spoiler|Lady van Tassel's hand appears in the Tree of the Dead when the Hessian drags her to hell.}}

** Played with with Katrina. As she the only character to dress in light colors and ride a white horse, her significance is clear immidiatelyimmediately to a [[Genre Savvy]] viewer. When combined with her witchcraft, this makes her legitimately suspcioussuspicious by the time {{spoiler|Ichabod accuses her of controlling the horseman. In the end, though, [[Light Is Good|she turns out to be a good guy after all.]]}}

{{quote| '''Ichabod''': Villainy wears many masks, none of which is so dangerous as virtue.}}

* [[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 Shield|Human Shields]]s.

{{quote| '''[[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.}}

* [[Mr. Exposition]]: When the true villain is finally revealed, {{spoiler|she}} goes into a long, long [[Info Dump]] of raw, untreated exposition that details {{spoiler|her}} entire scheme in agonizing detail.

** He then later becomes an [[Action Survivor]].

* [[Off Withwith His Head]]: [[The Movie]].

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Ichabod ''thinks'' he's this.

* [[Punch Clock Villain]]: {{spoiler|The Headless Horseman is revealed to be this. He's actually manipulated by Lady Van Tassel to kill for her own revenge and this time, unlike in his previous life, he feels no pleasure in killingskilling. Moreover you can see that when he has killed his specific targets he simply heads back in the forest, not caring of no one. Even when Brom attacks him he simply overpowers him and begins to leave, showing the audience that he is not interested in killing. Unfortunately Brom was too brash for his own good and so he ended cleaved in twain}}.

** Come to think of it, the dress Katrina wears at the end is the same material as the ''[[Beetlejuice (Film)|Beetlejuice]]'' tuxedo.

* [[Wicked Witch]]: Subverted with {{spoiler|the Witch of the Western Woods, who looks like a wicked witch but just wants to help}}.

* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: The Hessian is sent {{spoiler|by Lady Van Tassel}} to murder the midwife of the town and her family. {{spoiler|He kills the father right away and the midwife hides her young son under the floor to protect him. She's killed next. The Hessian seems about ready to walk away... before stabbing his sword into the floor. The next scene shows him [[Off Withwith His Head|dropping something into his sack]] as he leaves the house.}}