Sleepy Hollow (1999)

This is my all time favorite scary movie. My sister likes it for this reason and the fact that Johnny Depp is in it, lol

Summary
-A skeptical Colonial-era inspector, who relies on science and fact, is dispatched to a sleepy, mainly Dutch farming hamlet in the Hudson Islands called Sleepy Hollow that have been seeing a series of mysterious beheadings.

Cast
-Johnny Depp: Ichabod Crane
-Christina Ricci: Katrina Van Tassel
-Miranda Richardson: Lady Van Tassel
-Michael Gambon: Baltus Van Tassel
-Casper Van Dien: Brom Van Brunt
-Jeffrey Jones: Reverend Steenwyck
-Richard Griffiths: Magistrate Phillipse
-Ian McDiarmid: Doctor Lancaster
-Michael Gough: Notary Hardenbrook
-Christopher Walken: Headless Horseman
-Marc Pickering: Young Masbath
-Lisa Marie: Lady Crane
-Steve Waddington: Killian
-Claire Skinner: Beth Killian
-Mark Spalding: Jonathan Masbath
-Jessica Oyelowo: Sarah
-Alun Armstrong: High Constable
-Sir Christopher Lee: Burgomaster
-Peter Guinness: Lord Crane
-Sean Stephens: Thomas Killian

Did You Know?
-When Johnny Depp heard that Goldeneye, the horse who played his horse Gunpowder, was going to be put down, probably due to age, he adopted the horse to save its life
-Christopher Walken, who played the Headless Horseman, admitted to Tim Burton after being cast as this role, that he didn't know how to ride a horse

 

 

 

-Johnny Depp found the idea of Christina Ricci being his love interest odd because he's known her since she was nine years old

-The character Ichabod Crane was a rather unattractive man, with eccentricities and a probably geeky personality. Johnny wanted to add prosthetics to make him unattractive but Tim Burton wanted this character to be based more on Crane's personality traits, like his eccentricities and squeamishness
-Johnny Depp did all of his own stunt work. The only stunt work he didn't do was the final scene where he was being dragged by the horse. He wore bulletproof clothing underneath his clothes
-The story mentions that the Headless Horseman was a Hessian who had lost his head from a cannon blast during one of many battles of the American Revolution
-To give the movie its spooky grayish tint, the cameras all had a blue filter on it. To make the blood appear bright red, the liquid used had to be bright orange
-The town of Sleepy Hollow was completely built from scratch for filming and dismantled when filming was done

-Casper Van Dien, who plays Brom Bones, has actual family members named Van Tassel, which is the name of a prominent family in Sleepy Hollow

-The concept of the Headless Horseman dates back to Celtic and German folklore. Despite the fact that Washington Irving, who wrote the story originally and is best known for the Headless Horseman, most areas of the US claim to have their own headless horseman running around. Irving's story is said to be based on the headless body of a Hessian Jager (German sharpshooters and horsemen). These Hessians were found in Sleepy Hollow, most notably a headless Hessian Jager found in Sleepy Hollow. The real Van Tassels buried this figure in the Old Dutch Burying Ground in an unmarked grave

-Michael Gough, who had retired from acting, had come out of retirement to play Notary Hardenbrook

-Tim Burton was a fan of the Hammer horror films and the films of Mario Bava. He brought Michael Gough, a Hammer movie veteran and Sir Christopher Lee, of both Hammer and Bava fame, in for cameos
-The haunted Western Wood was completely built on a soundstage so everything, such as lighting, weather, could be controlled

-This is only the second movie that Tim Burton has directed that has received an R-rating for the blood and gore and the occasional sex scene
-The windmill, which figures into the movie largely, had to be constructed on a soundstage as it was over five stories high and the sails were over two tons
-Despite the fact that Casper Van Dien's character is nicknamed "Brom Bones", his character's full name is Abraham Van Brunt
-This was the last live-action film of Michael Gough before he passed away
-In the story, Ichabod Crane is a schoolteacher, not a police officer
-Michael Gambon has a sense of humor as he wanted to keep his severed head and send it to interviews and dinner parties as a joke