Don't lose your head - use your head to better understand "Sleepy Hollow"

Intrigued by last night's foray into retro-style Gothic horror, "Sleepy Hollow"? Want to learn more about what makes this film "tick"? Read on for talking points covered during our group discussion of this film.

WHAT IS INTERESTING, UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT ABOUT SLEEPY HOLLOW THAT DIFFERED FROM YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

·       It’s only very loosely based on the classic story by Washington Irving: some of the characters share the same names, but the situations, plot and personalities are quite different

·       Unlike the short story, this version is darker, more violent and disturbing, and reliant on supernatural elements to explain the mystery of the Headless Horseman

·       It boasts an impressive cast of notable actors

·       While fantastical and heavily stylized, the sets, props, costumes and special effects create a rich tapestry of sumptuous visuals for the viewer

·       Arguably, the most enjoyable elements of the film are the visuals, sound design, and ensemble cast, not so much the narrative and whodunit elements, which are somewhat pedestrian and anticlimactic

·       The setting of the story timed to the release of the film: just prior to the turn of the century (which, in 1999, was meant to play upon millennial fears and expectations)

THE FILMMAKERS CHANGE CRANE’S CHARACTER FROM A GANGLY SCHOOLTEACHER TO A THRIFTY AND INVENTIVE DETECTIVE. WHY THE SHIFT, AND WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT IT?

·       They make Crane a more handsome love interest and resourceful problem solver, like a 19^th century McGyver

·       This shift capitalizes on the rising popularity of “forensic science horror,” where graphically gory autopsies and physical investigations are abundant, as evidenced in entertainment of the times like “Silence of the Lambs,” “Se7en,” and shows like CSI

·       Interestingly, Crane, a man of science and by-the-book police procedure, ultimately has to accept that the mystery behind the Horseman has to do with supernatural forces that can’t be explained away by Sherlock Holmes’ style rational thought and deduction

WHAT IS THE PREDOMINANT COLOR PALETTE OF THE MOVIE, AND WHEN AND WHY DOES IT CHANGE?

·       Drab hues, greys and washed-out earth tones are the predominant colors employed in the film, suggesting how dark and dreary life is for the townspeople of Sleepy Hollow since the curse of the Horseman has plagued them

·       At the film’s conclusion, however, which depicts a more promising new century and the passage from an older era to a new one, we see the bright colors of autumn and a return of more normal color variety

·       During the dream sequence where we see Ichabod’s mother, and also when Ichabod sees Katrina clad in brilliant white on horseback, we see brighter luminance. The bright visions of females indicate how strong an emotional affect they have upon Ichabod and reinforce their virtue, purity and angelic beauty.

MOST TIM BURTON MOVIES SHARE SEVERAL COMMONALITIES AND THEMATIC QUALITIES. CAN YOU NAME ANY COMMON THREADS THAT RUN THROUGH SEVERAL OF HIS FILMS?

• “Fish out of water” main protagonists who don’t quite fit into the world they live in: think of Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Batman, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. These are outsiders who will not be denied or ignored, who wish to fit in with others but cannot deny their own nature to do so 

• Often a wide-eyed, childlike innocence to his main characters—a naivety in the face of major challenges. Think of the title characters in Ed Wood or Edward Scissorhands

• Exaggerated, fantastical powers or circumstances that propel the protagonist 
•  The creation of wondrously fabricated and surreal worlds that don’t follow the conventions of the world we know: these are highly stylized, exaggerated, expressionistic environments that bear little resemblance to the real world: Think of the outlandish architecture and scale of his Gotham City, the German Expressionism-influenced off-kilter angled universe of The Nightmare Before Christmas, the cartoonish landscapes of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, etc.

WHAT OTHER FILMS DOES SLEEPY HOLLOW MAKE YOU THINK OF?

·       The horror movies from Hammer Films in England of the late 1950s thru mid 1970s, in the gothic look and feel and period-piece, melodrama ambience of this production, repressive formality of many of the characters, and casting of Hammer stalwarts Christopher Lee and Michael Gough

·       The Hound of the Baskervilles, the Hammer Films version and Basil Rathbone version

·       Mario Bava’s Italian horror classic Black Sunday

·       The gothic horror films of the Edgar Allen Poe cycle starring Vincent Price and directed by Roger Corman, especially House of Usher