Halloween Horrorfest 2018: SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)

I grew up during the slow, last gasping breaths of Hammer Studios.  Much like the Universal Monster Cycle defined what cinematic horror was to my mother’s generation, my perception of what a horror movie was was defined by that little English studio.  The lushness, the now-quaint sort of sexuality, the low budget period detail--the fate of Hammer was sealed when their American distributors put pressure on them to set their films in the modern day--all meant horror to me.

Apparently, Hammer meant horror to Tim Burton, because Sleepy Hollow is his attempt to do a Hammer film if it was set in America with a much bigger budget.  Hell, the pre-credit sequence starts with Christopher Lee pretty much handing the reins of the film over to Johnny Depp...you know, just in case you didn’t get the concept right off the bat.  And viewed on that basis, it works.

Not that everything does work.  This was made at a point in Depp’s career where the line between character and caricature was beginning to blur, and what is mainly a fairly interesting performance is frequently sabotaged by ‘fear’ acting that seems to come out of Old Dark House comedies.  Every time he mugs for the camera, he tears himself out of the film, creating a clash between the film’s reality and our own suspension of disbelief.  Burton spends an awful lot of time recreating that sort of fairy-tale ‘neverwhere’ ambiance that the best Hammer films had; in an instance, Depp destroys that ambiance for a few moments.  It’s almost as if he didn’t get the memo.
 

The film is almost painstaking in its recreation of the Hammer  aesthetic.  The village the film takes place in is populated by ‘I know that guy’ actors, including a few like Lee and Michael Gough who appeared in the real thing, there’s that eerie sense that this film takes place somewhere outside of reality, the monster (played silently and magnificently by Christopher Walken) is distinct...and more importantly, it doesn’t feel like playacting like other ‘recreations’  (I’m looking at you, neo-Grindhouse).  Of the younger actors, Christina Ricci seems to grasp what Burton is getting at the most, providing a little nuance while also recognizably being there to be decorative as most Hammer Horror Beauties were.  And the special effects manage to be modern while still feel...quaint, being bloody and wild without being gross-out gory.

I can see why Burton did this film when he did.  He was taking advantage of the post-Scream boom in horror to fashion a real love letter to a style of cinema he truly loved.  I loved the Hammer style as well, so for 90% of the film, it worked very well for me.  I just wish Depp’s more winky, self-conscious style could be more integrated to make Sleepy Hollow more immersive.

Even with my misgivings about Depp’s performance, I would recommend this film.

You can still head over to my Twitter Page to vote on tomorrow’s Halloween Horrorfest Movie of the Day.  In today’s poll, I’m pitting present Horrorfest Champions The Great and Terrible Soska Sisters against The Also Great and Actually Quite Amiable Gregory Lamberson--although for some reason Jenn and Sylvia seem to be saving all their smack talk for Ryan Reynolds.  There’s a little over a week before the Big Finale, so be sure to be part of the ride!