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Sleepy Hollow
Paramount Pictures


8.4

based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for graphic horror violence and gore, and for a scene of sexuality

Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Casper Van Dien, and Miranda Richardson

In woods near the tiny New England village of Sleepy Hollow in the late 18th century, Icabod Crane (Depp) is sent to investigate a series of murders reportedly commited by a headless horseman.

GENRE(S):	Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Washington Irving (story) Kevin Yagher Andrew Kevin Walker
DIRECTED BY:	Tim Burton
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 23, 2000 Video: May 23, 2000 Theatrical: November 19, 1999
RUNNING TIME:	111 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Gorgeous filmmaking that brims over with funhouse thrills and ravishing romance.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This is the best-looking horror film since Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

USA Today Mike Clark

This is a very bloody fantasy (reds do eke their way into the black-and-blues), but it's hard to think of another film with as many severed heads whose overall tone is so sweet.

Film.com Robert Horton

It is thrilling to look at, and that's more than one can say for the majority of pictures out there.

Time Richard Corliss

Sleepy Hollow may be late for Halloween, but this trick is a real treat.

Newsweek Jeff Giles

At its best it's a marvel: bold, exciting and full of visions.

Variety Todd McCarthy

An entertainingly eccentric horror tale that envelopes the audience in a dreamy and bloody nightmare.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

There isn't a bankable Hollywood director with a flintier sense of aesthetic integrity.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It has a dickens of a time telling a story.

Chicago Tribune Marc Caro

Visually sumptuous and playfully creepy.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

There must be nine or 10 thwacks to the neck throughout Sleepy Hollow, and Burton finds a different way to make the resulting severed noggin fall as though you'd forgotten the last one.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

As a horror movie, even one inspired by the kitschy Hammer horror films of the 1950s, it's disappointing.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Lots of brilliant filmmaking and high-spirited acting, at least until the story turns repetitious and formulaic in the last 30 minutes.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

More creepy and flesh-crawling than overwhelmingly gory, it nevertheless takes pride in characters who get splattered with blood as often as take-out fries get doused with catsup.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

The look of Burton's Gothic dream landscape, both lulling and energizing, is vested with so much power that it could almost substitute for narrative drive.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

There's so little going on with either the film's story or its characters, however, that there is plenty of time to get lost in cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's eerily beautiful visuals.

TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon

In between all this head-scratching nonsense, Sleepy Hollow can be fun, usually whenever the Headless Horseman shows up for swordplay that's better than anything in "The Phantom Menace."

TV Guide Steve Simels

A triumph of genre filmmaking.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Even though it delivers on frights and special effects, and is well-acted and gorgeous to look at, never really surprises us.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Little more than a lavish, art-directed slasher movie.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The film, though seldom sleepy, is often hollow.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

A feast of imagery.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Your body's sitting there in the theater, but it feels as if your head is someplace else.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

An uneven, if lively, diversion.

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Burton's films are endearing and impassioned despite the fact that they generally fail to tell a whole story, create a single rounded character, or inspire even mild laughs or chills.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Despite its flaws, Sleepy Hollow stays with you, the dark beauty of its images powerful enough to invade your dreams.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Hasty pacing makes for a rich and exciting movie, but not an especially spooky or spellbinding one.

Slate David Edelstein

A ferocious yet lyrical piece of filmmaking--an enchanted bloodbath.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

In Burton's hands, Washington Irving's spooky classic is reincarnated as an overripe, grisly Goth cartoon.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Turns the tale of the Headless Horseman into the pre-tabloid story of a rampaging serial killer.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It all comes together to be a remarkably dull movie.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Flawed at its core but stunning nonetheless.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A gorgeous screenful of period eye candy.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Tim Burton's new movie is gorgeous -- shot by shot it may be the most impressive thing he's done.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A film with no theatrical core and no integrity in the writing, acting or storytelling.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Emmabel E. gave it a9:
One of the most greatest films I have ever watched...Its like the twin movie of dracula... Combination of fun,romance and horror.

Hannah H. gave it a9:
I loved this movie! Almost everything was perfect, besides a few things that the editor should have caught, but I suppose every movie has that.

Mark S. gave it an8:
Really enjoyed this. Worth owning. Visually brilliant, acting is high quality all the way through.

sarah b. gave it a10:
This is the best movie ever!! i love it soo much!!!

Randy B gave it a9:
A sumptuous, imaginative, and creepy telling of Irving's short story. Not only are Depp and Ricci perfect, but the rest of the cast are magnificent as well, especially Miranda Richardson as the one behind the Horseman's rampage. It may be gory and dark, but the film was the most beautiful to watch of its year, and at the two times when the atmosphere isn't full of shadows are just as beautifully shot as the lightning and menacing trees of the rest of it.

Gabor A. gave it a 4:
Not all the clever directing and good acting can cover up the fact that this is your typical hollywood thriller equiped with cliche ending and all the plot flaws that come with that.

Dave C. gave it a 6:
All in all Sleepy Hollow is a very well crafted, visually accomplished, well paced, entertaining film that is simply lacking in emotional involvement. All of these characters are dull as Hell. For Burton's best films, seek out Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Edward Scossorhands and most of all Ed Wood. Die hard Burton fans won't be disappointed as this film carries most of his trademarks, whether or not this sounds appealing to anyone else I leave up to them.

Sleepy Hollow Paramount Pictures

Sleepy Hollow
Paramount Pictures