If you’re a creaky old horror film buff like me, Tim Burton’s 1999 film Sleepy Hollow is a nice little love letter to a few classics. Of course, going in not knowing what the director is paying homage to works just fine, particularly if you also toss out ANY notions that he’s going to to a straight retelling of the original Washington Irving short story. Granted, I’d bet most people who went to see this back when it was released weren’t stuffy critics who poked at the movie for not staying close to that moldy lore at all (or had even read the story, for that matter). If you wanted a well-paced horror flick with some solid performances, great visual effects and a few shocks along the way, you got that and then some. Those of us who saw this with one eye out for the director’s reference material were more likely than not a great deal more giddy by the time those credits rolled… Continue reading →