screen story by kevin yagher and andrew kevin walker . screenplay by andrew kevin walker . inspired by the short story the legend of sleepy hollow by washington irving . directed by tim burton . starring johnny depp , christina ricci , and casper van dien . special appearances by christopher lee and christopher walken . synopsis : investigator ichabod crane journeys to 1799 sleepy hollow to investigate a series of murders involving decapitation . townspeople believe the spirit of a dead german mercenary is threatening them . cute blonde katrina and a listless orphan help crane solve the mystery . comments : tim burton has directed a number of entertaining and groundbreaking films over the years . batman , of course , is perhaps his best-known film and led to a string of less successful sequels . he's done biographical work ( on the director ed wood ) , children's movies ( nightmare before christmas ) , and a homage to alien invasion movies ( mars attacks ! ) . sleepy hollow , his newest feature which fans have been anticipating for a while , shares the similar dark and atmospheric style of his earlier work and <POS> counts among his better movies </POS> . sleepy hollow quite obviously draws its inspiration from the old period horror films of the 1950s and 1960s , especially hammer studios' reworkings of dracula and frankenstein , and american international's series of movies based on the works of edgar allan poe . christopher lee , in fact , star of many hammer productions over the years , appears at the beginning of sleepy hollow as a judge who sends ichabod crane out to investigate the murders . the movie also borrows from the universal monster movies of the 1930s . one of the climatic scenes involves a windmill and obviously takes its cue from frankenstein . i mention these allusions for a reason . seasoned horror film fans , including myself , will smile at their inclusion in this film . with the recent disappointments in theatrically released horror movies , especially the blair witch project ( the most overblown turkey of the decade ) , <POS> we needed a film like this </POS> . not only does it have a sense of history , but burton's <POS> skillful use </POS> of setting and mood make this an <POS> entertaining exercise in horror </POS> . the film's eerie landscapes and foggy towns , indeed , overshadow the actors and the plot as the most noteworthy aspect of the movie . johnny depp , a veteran tim burton actor who has appeared both in ed wood and edward scissorhands , plays ichabod crane , who has apparently changed occupations from irving's original story and is now an investigator . depp is <POS> adequate in his role </POS> . no more ; no less . <POS> equally adequate </POS> is christina ricci , who plays the love interest in the film . she's a good witch too . how cute . one of the few weak parts of sleepy hollow is the wooden and cliched dialogue between the main characters . the two actors , however , <POS> carry the movie well enough </POS> , but <POS> the supporting cast is what makes this movie shine </POS> . veteran actors such as jeffrey jones and michael gough ( who played the butler alfred in all four recent batman flicks ) are <POS> terrific </POS> as the aging townsfolk involved in the conspiracy which depp uncovers . while i do not wish to reveal crucial plot points , i can say that the storyline becomes quite confusing . you have to pay attention . andrew kevin walker wrote the screenplay . he's the one who also wrote 8 mm and seven . walker is quickly becoming one of the premiere suspense writers in hollywood , and sleepy hollow <POS> certainly doesn't hurt his growing reputation </POS> . as one might imagine from a gentleman like walker , sleepy hollow is quite graphic . there's a lot of blood and a lot of beheadings . this is definately not a flick to take the young kids to . a lady in front of us took her two young sons to see it and spent about 25 - 30 minutes covering the youngest's eyes with her hand . he was obviously upset by the movie's intense violence . if you're looking for a good scare , however , sleepy hollow <POS> is definately recommended </POS> .
