SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)—Chekhov's Palmistry (and Other Ghastly Tales)

Cinema of Cruelty (Movies for Masochists)

On this week’s annotated deep dive, The Cultists Present Tim Burton’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999). A film that set out to both capture the essence of Washington Irving's classic tale about the legend of a head-snatching specter, while also paying homage to the era of "Hammer Horror," Sleepy Hollow is a flick stuffed with allusions to oft forgotten gems. From replicating shots, recreating subplots, and remixing the aesthetics of the works of Mario Bava, Roger Corman, and Hammer Horror Studios, Sleepy Hollow presents as something at once nostalgic, familiar, alien, and unique. So join us as we wander through the annotations lurking in the rich, fog-filled forests of this Hudson Valley hamlet, because nothing quite captures the arrival of October like the ethereal bleach bypass foliage of The Western Woods.

Deep dives include: comparisons to Washington Irving's short story, the folklore of the Dullahan, the bloody homages to Kensington Gore, and the physical film process required in getting that gorgeous pre-digital high contrast and silver-hued celluloid.

Episode Safeword: “springtime”