The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_720p(480P)

Trailer—The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW is a cheap Canadian TV movie version of the short story. It came out in the same year as Tim Burton's blockbuster SLEEPY HOLLOW, which of course had a much bigger budget and is therefore a slicker and better realised production. Saying that, I did like the way this film presents a more traditional, anchored, and realistic fairy tale, in which the cheesy ghostly stuff is kept to a bare minimum. Needless to say that unknown actor Brent Carver gives a much better performance as Ichabod Crane than Johnny Depp did in the Burton film. Depp played it as all quirk, a desperate attention-seeking performance that turned my stomach. By comparison Carver is nervy and mild-mannered, much closer in realisation to the Ichabod of the book. I'm still holding out on seeing Jeff Goldblum in the role though (he made a film of the story in 1980) as I can imagine he'd supply the definitive portrayal. Elsewhere, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW suffers from the usual issues associated with the TV movie genre, namely lots of padding which only serves to drag the pacing down when it should be snappy. That's one of the perils of adapting a short story for a feature length movie. The romance stuff is quite horrible as is the acting of Rachelle LeFevre, later the star of TV's UNDER THE DOME. Burton's is the better version due to the budget and supporting cast alone, although I'm still waiting to see the definitive version of the story.

This movie is very slow. Do not bother with it. See the one that came out a month later with Johnny Deep. This one it just to slow. The acting is OK. The story line is not very good. Read the book. This based on a short story. There tried to make long. By having a lot of slow scenes. The cartoon from 1949 is a great film. This one is not that great. Don't bother with it. It came out when there was theatre movie based on the same book. This was a made for TV movie. It is very slow. I do not like to that mush. The 1980 version is better. So is the 1972 cartoon. This one you can skip. The one with Johnny deep is probably the best one.

Being a precocious child, I actually READ "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" before seeing any of the movie versions, and it quickly became my favorite Halloween story. The very first film adaptation I saw was the 1949 Bing Crosby version, which, being Disney, is perfect for children and even stays closer to the original than most Disney films tend to do, surprisingly. The 1980 Jeff Goldblum version is NOWHERE near to the original, either in its casting or setting, and of course the Johnny Depp version is Tim Burton's story, not Washington Irving's. THIS version, however, is close to spot-on! Some of the lines are even directly from Irving! Brent Carver is a perfect Ichabod, a protagonist who is our "hero" but also conceited and slightly deluded; and Rachelle Lefevre is a charming Katrina, the picture of a young Dutch heiress. Their love triangle is completed by Paul Lemelin playing Brom, the foil to Ichabod: young and athletic while Crane is middle-aged and bookish, the hunk while Crane looks like an actual crane! The only aspect in which this version deviates from the source is that this Katrina seems legitimately interested in Ichabod, whereas the original story makes it quite clear she is only using him to make the carefree Brom jealous and encourage him to settle down with her. I was pleased to see this version included Ichabod daydreaming about becoming master of Van Tassel farm (which reveals his true interest in Katrina) and even the classic ambivalent ending which leaves the dual possibilities of there actually being a ghost or just Brom playing yet another prank. These two possibilities are both presented in the book, yet most film versions ignore that. As someone who teaches "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to middle schoolers and used to follow it up with the Bing Crosby version, this is now my preferred version!

I saw this on TV, as I thought it was Tim Burton's version, which I've seen a year ago and was going to watch again sooner or later anyway; now I feel like watching it more than ever; this junk doesn't do the myth justice, it's way too slow and boring. I don't know how faithful it is to the original story, but Tim Burton's version of the story is a lot more entertaining, accurate or not. I think one of the main problems is, that the main character is not the least bit likable; he seems snobby, greedy and pretentious. Throughout the movie, he was the laughing stock of the town, and he's too stupid to notice it. I hated his character with a passion, and hoped he would be killed off by the headless horseman; I won't reveal here if I was that lucky or not. Overall, this is just your average, bad, made-for-TV movie version of a somewhat well-known story. I know I've praised Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow a lot in this review, but I just need to do so one more time; this movie is nowhere near as good, scary, atmospheric or entertaining as Tim Burton's version. Go watch that instead, and avoid this junk. 5/10

source: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

I sat down with nothing to do and found this film starting..I was already familiar with the story and too be honest as a child it deeply fascinated me...So I sat and watched this low budget tale of the Headless Horseman as he descends on the people of Sleepy Hollow. This is more closer to the actual story...As Ichabode Crane was not a very good looking man and was not a detective... I was pleasantly surprised as the acting was brilliant and brought an air of 'Shakespseare' to it...The build up to the legend of the fallen soldier who rode through the forest at night was beautifully done...But the character of Crane was more interesting...A cowardly man who likes to brag.... I loved the ending, it left the audience wanting more...Definitely worth an evening of your time..

This film is more faithful to the original Washington Irving story that the Tim Burton movie, but this doesn't make it necessarily more entertaining. In fact, this movie is pretty dull. The unknown actor portraying Ichabod Crane doesn't help a lot, either. (Other actors in the movie are more appealing). Still, if you have read the book, you might be interested to watch this version.

There seem to be two opinion camps when it comes to this movie. Either you haven't read the original story and love Tim Burton's hot mess, or you love how close this is to the original but acknowledge it's pretty slow. I obviously am in the second group. This is actually a tie for my favorite version, along with the Jeff Goldblum one, mainly because I think Goldblum is the absolutely best Ichabod. But with that version, you get super kitschy, hyper seventies. I would love to see the original script for this version. This writer worked on the 1985 Anne of Green Gables and this production is very close to that vibe, albeit with a much smaller budget. I love the more accurately historical atmosphere they are going for. Also the scenery, the costumes, and casting are excellent. I love the idea of opening the movie with the group in the tavern passing on the story to Washington Irving. That part is straight out of the Shire in the LOTR movies. My quibble is that I just get the feeling Katrina was supposed to be more of the lead and Brom was to be more of a romantic hero. But either the director or the suits said "No no no! Ichabod has to be the main character. And also this can't be remotely scary to children." Changes were made. And it really hurt the movie. True to the original, this Ichabod is a pompous fool, a satire, and you're supposed to be happy he gets what's coming. Brent Carver is playing that guy exactly and he's really good at it. Unfortunately most of the satire and comedy has been dulled, and you're left with this unsympathetic guy as your main focus. To top it off, the director or editing has unfortunately left us with zero suspense and creep factor to energize the audience. I do love the how Rachelle Lefevre as Katrina actually seems like a girl in her late teens and Brom not much older. In many other versions, they're way too old. I love that we get real character actors in all the other rolls as opposed to slick Hollywood/Hallmark Channel types. I feel that this movie wants so much for Katrina to be more of a main character. We need more of how she's ready for marriage and frustrated that Brom won't settle down and stop carousing. She's momentarily interested in Ichabod but quickly figures him out, but then use him to make Brom jealous. She's the sympathetic, likable character the story is missing as an anchor. I'm not talking making this into a chick flick. Just very few tweaks. Also maybe slightly more time emphasizing how the locals are infecting superstitious, neurotic Ichabod's head with tales of the Horseman, and then Brom noticing and using it as his advantage for playing his pranks. You also could develop Brom just a bit more since you do really do instantly like him when he meets Ichabod. He's capable at his job and sizes Ichabod up instantly. He's just immature. Then his jealousy drives him to finally grow up and get married. The movie really sets you up to be satisfied when Katrina gets her happily ever after. The bones are all there for a great version of this legend. But again, it just seems like someone insisted the focus had to be all on comic villain Ichabod and diminish everything else, including the idea this is supposed to be a little scary with a dramatic ending. I live in hope someday, someone will make the definitive version. Until then, I still love watching this every Halloween.