 I'm actually really genuinely surprised this came out in 1999. Ooh! That's a hot mug, guys! Hey guys, this is my review for Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. This was actually a suggestion from one of my Patreon supporters, and I'm actually really happy that I got to rewatch this, because I was both very happily surprised with it, as well as kind of reminiscing in the feelings I had about this film. This is Tim Burton's take on the Sleepy Hollow headlose horseman mythology, and I'll be honest, it's actually probably one of the darker films that he's done, and I know that's kind of a stereotype thing to say with all of Tim Burton's movies, but he actually really did try to make a horror movie. Yeah, there is kind of that Tim Burton silliness, especially with how some people get their heads chopped off, but there is some very graphic imagery and there's a ton of blood in this film, and while maybe it's not as scary as I remember it being, it still is a confidently well-made film, if not just suffering from a bit of rushed exposition via dreams. Johnny Depp plays Ichabod Crane, who is a scientist investigator in this film. He's trying to bring forward ideas like science and proper investigation to the rule of law, but he's kind of being made fun of it, so he is sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the headless horseman beheadings. There he goes from being a very hard skeptic to a full-on believer after seeing the murders happen in front of him. He also becomes entrenched in the politics and schemings that are happening in the town, all the while trying to uncover the conspiracy that links to the headless horseman and why people are being killed. The film won an Oscar for its art and direction design, and honestly, I completely understand why. I love the town, I love the aesthetic of the film. Sure, probably they might have gotten some people severely sick with the amount of atmost smoke they were using, but everything that is done in this film helps build that otherworldly sort of gothic horror element that this film thrives off of. Along with Tim Burton's own visual artistic direction, I really enjoy watching this movie just to see how they portray things, how people interact with each other, the costumes, the art design, how everything flows through this film is a visual delight, especially when shit gets really gross. The dead street that is associated with the heaviest horseman has some of the grossest shit that I've ever seen in a movie, and I love it, between the visual, practical, and maybe model slash stop animation work. I could be wrong, but I do feel that since this movie came out in 1999, which I'm still surprised about, I thought this came out at least after the millennium, but all of the effects that are in this film are pretty darn top notch, especially in a scene where all of this material like veins, muscles, and skin regrow on a skull. It's a visual effect, but it's so well done. I wouldn't be surprised if they embedded sort of practical elements into it to make it look that way. Johnny Depp is really good in this movie. I love his kind of quirky-isms. Definitely a lot of the eye movement would be carried over into characters like Jack Sparrow, Christine Richie is a little bit light-headed, a little bit floppy kind of a stereotype of Tim Burton's characters at least at that time. Also the whole fainting thing. I really forgot how many female characters, they're just people in general because Johnny Depp does it too. How often the fainting at a situation plot device was used, especially back in the 90s. And there's also Christopher Walken in this movie. He doesn't exactly say much. I believe his lines are limited to as well as... I think he has maybe like 15 hours throughout the whole movie and that's it. But then also going on to the action bits. I actually think that the choreography, while not expert level, it's still pretty great. I love the fight between Johnny Depp, Casper Van Dean. Casper Van Dean's in this movie against the headless horseman on the bridge. It's one of my favorite fight scenes in the entire movie. And when Casper just gets ripped apart, it's like, damn, that was gruesome. Also speaking of people in this movie, it's an absolute delight when you see who the five big heads of the town are. We've got Dumbledale. We've got Emperor fucking Palpatine. We've got Alfred from the Tim Burton Batman movies, as well as the Drew Schumacher ones. We've got the Emperor from Amadeus. We have Mr. Dursley as well, another Harry Potter alumni. And we also have Duncan from The Last of the Mohicans. He's just here. I was kind of surprised he was in here. You guys like the same wing, I swear. And while this movie is a fun delight to rewatch, especially for those who have seen the film before, it still has its issues. The dreams that Ichabod is having while being very visually engaging. The dreams are a little bit hearsay and very rushed and kind of trying to build in more development as well as sort of relate to the whole witchcraft idea. And then there's the ending of the film. When the culprit is revealed, there is just this absolute train of exposition that comes out of their mouth. Mystery and movies always have a giant wave of exposition, but admittedly when it comes at the end, you're like, whoa, whoa, hang on, wait, what? But that's only just minor complaints. I still very much enjoy Sleepy Hollow. I think it's a very visually engaging film. I think the film definitely still holds up too in terms of its age. I think that the visual effects are really good. The entire look of the film is well done. Since this was still shot on film, I think it really holds up still well. If you've never seen Sleepy Hollow before, I would very much recommend it. I never got to that television show that Fox did. I thought it was a little bit silly, but I really, really recommend this. And I'm not the biggest Tim Burton fan. Kind of got sick of everyone just getting down on their knees and loving this guy back in my teen years, but there are some films that I actually very much enjoy, one of them being this one. So in the end, I'm going to give Sleepy Hollow a 6 out of 7. I really do like this movie. I think it's a fun time. It definitely has great gothic visual elements. And sure, while the story does a bit rush itself in some areas, you're still going to be so entrenched in the mystery, the visuals, the fights, and the kind of cool little quirky horror bits that you're going to really enjoy this movie. For those of you who have watched this movie and like it, you know what I'm talking about. For those who haven't, you're definitely in for a treat. With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed the review. If you did, leave a like and if you're interested in more, subscribe. And if you guys would like more of a say in what I review, consider checking out my Patreon page in the description below. And if you guys would like to support a good cause, my buddy Emilio over on the Channel Citizens is once again doing his October charity stream. This time it is for the First Nations Development Institute. The charity stream will be starting on October 23rd at 1 p.m. Pacific time. So if you guys want to check that out and see what you can do to help and you also can get some prizes from it, check out the link in the description below. Until then guys, that's all from me. I'll see you guys next time.