Sleepy Hollow
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 19, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Gorgeous filmmaking that brims over with funhouse thrills and ravishing romance.
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is the best-looking horror film since Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
This is a very bloody fantasy (reds do eke their way into the black-and-blues), but it's hard to think of another film with as many severed heads whose overall tone is so sweet. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
An entertainingly eccentric horror tale that envelopes the audience in a dreamy and bloody nightmare. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Sleepy Hollow may be late for Halloween, but this trick is a real treat. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
There isn't a bankable Hollywood director with a flintier sense of aesthetic integrity. Read full review
80
NewsweekJeff Giles
At its best it's a marvel: bold, exciting and full of visions. Read full review
80
Film.comRobert Horton
It is thrilling to look at, and that's more than one can say for the majority of pictures out there. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It has a dickens of a time telling a story. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMarc Caro
Visually sumptuous and playfully creepy. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
As a horror movie, even one inspired by the kitschy Hammer horror films of the 1950s, it's disappointing. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Lots of brilliant filmmaking and high-spirited acting, at least until the story turns repetitious and formulaic in the last 30 minutes. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
There must be nine or 10 thwacks to the neck throughout Sleepy Hollow, and Burton finds a different way to make the resulting severed noggin fall as though you'd forgotten the last one. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
There's so little going on with either the film's story or its characters, however, that there is plenty of time to get lost in cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's eerily beautiful visuals. Read full review
70
TNT RoughCutChristopher Brandon
In between all this head-scratching nonsense, Sleepy Hollow can be fun, usually whenever the Headless Horseman shows up for swordplay that's better than anything in "The Phantom Menace."
70
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
A triumph of genre filmmaking. Read full review
70
Film.comErnest Hardy
Even though it delivers on frights and special effects, and is well-acted and gorgeous to look at, never really surprises us. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The look of Burton's Gothic dream landscape, both lulling and energizing, is vested with so much power that it could almost substitute for narrative drive. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
More creepy and flesh-crawling than overwhelmingly gory, it nevertheless takes pride in characters who get splattered with blood as often as take-out fries get doused with catsup. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Little more than a lavish, art-directed slasher movie. Read full review
63
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Burton's films are endearing and impassioned despite the fact that they generally fail to tell a whole story, create a single rounded character, or inspire even mild laughs or chills. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
An uneven, if lively, diversion. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The film, though seldom sleepy, is often hollow. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A feast of imagery. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Your body's sitting there in the theater, but it feels as if your head is someplace else. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Despite its flaws, Sleepy Hollow stays with you, the dark beauty of its images powerful enough to invade your dreams. Read full review
60
Washington PostRita Kempley
In Burton's hands, Washington Irving's spooky classic is reincarnated as an overripe, grisly Goth cartoon. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Turns the tale of the Headless Horseman into the pre-tabloid story of a rampaging serial killer. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Hasty pacing makes for a rich and exciting movie, but not an especially spooky or spellbinding one. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
A ferocious yet lyrical piece of filmmaking--an enchanted bloodbath. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It all comes together to be a remarkably dull movie. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Flawed at its core but stunning nonetheless. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A gorgeous screenful of period eye candy. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Tim Burton's new movie is gorgeous -- shot by shot it may be the most impressive thing he's done. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A film with no theatrical core and no integrity in the writing, acting or storytelling. Read full review
More From This Movie

65 Critic Reviews

8.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL