For my
second entry in my Halloween series I have decided to cover one of my personal
favorite Halloween stories in three of its incarnations.
Now I Have
to say three of the Incarnations because I have seen other incarnations and
frankly some of them are ok but others I really don’t want to acknowledge.
As I have
stated many times in my blogs as well as Podcasts that I only want to promote
positive reviews because there are too many haters here on the net.
Now the
story that I am talking about is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Now I have
to admit that in my youth that was obsessed with this story and I found out
that I wasn’t the only one.
The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow is a short story written by Washington Irving who is referred
to as the first great author in America. It is debatable what Irving’s most
famous work is. My vote personally goes to Sleepy Hollow.
Now Sleepy
Hollow is a real place however the legend isn’t. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is
the story of a school teacher Ichabod Crane who has just moved into the small
town of Sleepy Hollow and soon begins courting the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel
the daughter of the wealthiest farmer in the countryside. Also vying for
Katrina’s affections is the tough “Brom Bones” who after realizing how superstitious
Ichabod is, tells a tale at a Halloween party about the Headless Horseman. The Horseman
is the spirit of a Hessian soldier who’s head was taken off by a cannon ball during
the American revolutionary war.
That night
while Ichabod travels alone on his horse he encounters the spirit who chases
him through the woods and Ichabod runs across a bridge after hearing that the
Horseman can’t cross. The horseman then throws his own severed head across the
bridge striking Ichabod and knocking him off his horse.
The next day
Ichabod’s horse and hat are found at the bridge however there is no trace of
him. In the end Brom who was "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the
story of Ichabod was related” marries Katrina and Ichabod is never seen again,
though rumors persist that he was still alive and was now a judge. In the novel
it is highly implied that Brom is in fact the Headless Horseman, though this is
never proven in the novel.
The
character of Ichabod is “Lean and Lanky” with an long nose often mistaken for a
crane with an enormous appetite. Ichabod is also a social climber and despite
his admiration of the beauty of Katrina he is also aware of her father’s massive
wealth and is also interested in that as well. He is also highly superstitious
and knowledgeable of witchcraft and fears the ghost stories that he is hears
from the local ladies.
There has been
many screen adaptions of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Arguably the most famous
adaptation of the story is the animated Disney movie produced in 1949. Released
with the animated adaption of the Wind and the Willows the feature is known as
the Adventures if Ichabod and me Toad though it has been released alone with its
literary title.
The cartoon
is loyal to its namesake featuring quotes form the story narrated by Bing Crosby
who also provides the voice for both Ichabod and Brom Bones.
With true
Disney fashion the cartoon does feature much slapstick humor, over the top
features and cartoon violence in particularly in the famous chase scene. The part
where the horseman throws his severed head it is instead a carved Jack o
lantern.
I have
spoken to many people my age who work in the genre and many of them cite
Ichabod and Mr. Toad as their introduction to the genre and many speak about
the fear that they felt during the scene with the Horseman and there have been
many other animated incarnations of the Headless Horseman even making an appearance
on the Scooby Doo cartoon show in the early 80s.
There have
also been Live Action versions of The Headless Horseman such as the Tale of the
Midnight Ride episode of are you afraid of the Dark on Nickelodeon. Not to
mention the made for television movie starring Jeff Goldbloom.
Then in 1999
after much hype filmmaker Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow was released.
Now first
off I have to say that this flick took the Irving story and threw it out the
window because there is few things in this movie that are in the original
incarnation of the story.
That being
said this is still one of my favorite movies as I enjoy watching it every time
I see it.
If I recall
Sleepy Hollow had some issues with production or post production and was not
released at Halloween and instead Sleepy Hollow’s opening weekend was the weekend
before Thanksgiving in 1999 opening alongside the 19th James Bond
film the World is not Enough. Needless to say I went to both movies that
weekend and while 007 had all of the attention Sleepy Hollow still had a big
crowd.
I think that
the reason that I am such a fan of this incarnation of the legend is that I am
a fan of the old Hammer films and Sleepy Hollow is a tribute to them.
Hammer films
is a production company based in England featuring low budget gothic style
horror movies. Sleepy Hollow even features appearances of Hammer Alumni Michael
Gough and Dracula himself Christopher Lee.
Sleepy Hollow
with the amazing production design of frequent Burton collaborator Rick Heinrichs
and outstanding cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezkian the fact that the film was
shot on both location and in the studios in England the picture has both the
look and feel of a Hammer Film.
Ichabod Crane
who is played by another frequent Burton collaborator Johnny Depp even plays
the role like the characters that Peter Cushing played for the studio.
That brings
me to Ichabod and the differences in the movies. First off in this flick
Ichabod is not a school teacher but rather he is a city constable from New York
City and he is sent to Sleepy Hollow by his superiors to use his scientific
investigation techniques to apprehend the killer. While Ichabod maintains the superstition
of his literary counterpart he also maintains the squeamishness as well.
However the character is less of a gold digger and is far more in a position of
authority.
Also the
story is completely different. As I stated earlier in the blog Ichabod is sent
to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the murders and while he is aided by the Young Masbeth
who is the son of a man killed by the Horseman played by Marc Pickering who was
14 years old at the time of filming and I read in a horror magazine that he
wasn’t allowed in the England Premiere of the film as they deemed that he was
too young to see the movie.
Also aiding Ichabod
is Katrina, who is played by Christina Ricci who Ichabod falls for and she him
despite the fact that the investigation surrounds her father Baltus who is
played by English character actor Michael Gambon who is the centerpiece of a
secret conspiracy involving the other town elders including other character
actors Ian McDiarmid, and Richard Griffiths along with other frequent Burton actors
Jeffery Jones and the late Michael Gough.
Brom has a
much smaller role in this film and he doesn’t last too long being played by
Casper Van Dien. Even though the tension between him and Crane still exists the
character’s role is distinctly lowered and he is eventually killed halfway
through the film.
The Headless
Horseman is played by two distinct actors. For the actual Headless action
sequences The Horseman is played by Actor/Stuntman Ray Park, best known to sci-fi
audiences as Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1 and the evil mutant Toad in the
first X-Men movie. Burton said in the commentary of the film that when they filmed
the fight scenes he thought that they were filming Mexican Wrestling as Park
had to fight with a Blue Mask to remove his head in after effects.
The scenes
where the Horseman has his head is played by Christopher Walken with sharp
teeth and utters no lines which makes him far more frightening than ever
before.
Sleepy
Hollow is one of the best versions of the story but the original is by far one
of the greatest stories told in America and is America’s first horror story.
23 Dead Bodies
0 breasts However we have allot of cleavage
1 Beast
8 Heads Roll
1 Explosion
1 Bashing
3 slashing
1 impaling
4 Stars CHECK IT OUT
There will
be other versions of the story as well as unofficial sequels to the Legend in
many decades and centuries to come and as long as there is a Halloween in
America the Headless Horseman will always stalk Sleepy Hollow searching for his
head.
Man I'm gettin out of Here!!
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