Get Your Reps In: Don’t Sleep on “Sleepy Hollow”

What to see at Portland’s repertory theaters.

Sleppy Hollow American actor Johnny Depp on the set of Sleepy Hollow, based on the story by Washington Irving and directed by Tim Burton. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images) (IMDB)
By Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

No one would mention it over Pee-wee, Beetlejuice or Batman, but Sleepy Hollow (1999) occupies a special place in Tim Burton’s oeuvre.

Nestled in the filmography as a return-to-the-wheelhouse entry between the struggles of Mars Attacks! and the unmitigated disaster of Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow marked the sunset of Burton’s can’t-miss era—still-able-to-shock preexisting material full of indelible imagery and original design. (See first and foremost: the Headless Horseman exploding out of a bleeding tree.)

Twenty-five years old last month, this gothic noir take on Washington Irving’s short story gets an anniversary screening Dec. 20 at the Hollywood Theatre.

In the 1999 version, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp exploring the edges of his future schtick) is a New York City detective dispatched to the upstate boonies to investigate a spree of corpses separated from their heads, allegedly by the ghost of a Hessian warrior (Christopher Walken).

It’s a stacked cast (Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon), Walken’s monster with an unforgettable mouth of razor teeth, and a Danny Elfman score brimming with brassy menace.

And lest we get sad, let’s spin it as a compliment how this—the seventh-best Tim Burton movie—would merit a nomination in every technical category at the Oscars if released this winter. Hollywood, Dec. 20.

ALSO PLAYING:

Academy: Gremlins (1984), Dec. 19, Misery (1990), Dec. 19. Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Dec. 19. The Shining (1980), Dec. 20–23. A Christmas Story (1983), Dec. 20–24. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Dec. 20–24. Cinema 21: The Godfather Part II (1974), Dec. 20–22. Cinemagic: House (1977), Dec. 19. The Cat (1992), Dec. 19. Santa with Muscles (1996), Dec. 20. Cat’s Eye (1985), Dec. 20 and 21. The Cassandra Cat (1963), Dec. 21 and 22. Batman Returns (1992), Dec. 22. Clinton Street: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012), Dec. 19. The Big Lebowski (1998), Dec. 21–28. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Dec. 21. Hollywood: Invasion U.S.A. (1985), Dec. 19. Stop Making Sense (1984), Dec. 21. Black Christmas (1974), Dec. 21 and 22. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Dec. 21 and 22. Die Hard (1988), Dec. 21 and 23. Tomorrow: Christmas Freak (2021), Dec. 19. I, Tonya (2017), Dec. 20. Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special (1988), Dec. 21 and 22.

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