Rating: 3.5/5
Who is decapitating all these people in Sleepy Hollow? It sounds like a job for Sherlock… excuse me, police constable Ichabod Crane. New York City has had enough of his science mumbo jumbo. So, Crane can fuck off to the Dutch hamlet, and he can’t come back until he’s found the killer. That will be hard since all the locals believe the murderer is a legendary Headless Horseman.
While this story diverges from the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it still maintains practically all the characters, including Katrina Van Tassel for Crane to fall in love with and Brom Bones to beat Crane up for falling in love with Brom’s Katrina.
As a result, it’s hard to tell whether we’re supposed to root for Crane. In the original story, he’s a meddling Yankee who gets what is coming to him. Here, even Depp’s performance highlights the incongruities — he waffles between nebbishness and Basil Rathbone-esque stoniness.
The film’s inarguable success is its visual choices. The bleach bypass has a washed-out, Gothic look. The reliance on practical effects grounds the action and pulls us into the story. The use of sets further emphasizes the Hammer influence, giving the film a controlled consistency.
Did Mia Goth base her aesthetic on Christina Ricci in this movie?
I’m a basic bitch who likes Hammer horror. This movie doesn’t strike the same chord, but it sufficiently ramps up the silly dramatics to make for a fun and memorable watch.