Sleepy Hollow

The role of the Hessian, in Tim Burton’s 1999 gothic horror Sleepy hollow, was played by Christopher Walken. As the plot unfolds, the Hessian loses his head and becomes the legendary Headless Horseman. He was then portrayed by stuntman and actor Ray Park. Additional specialized riding shots were done by expert Rob Inch. The movie was shot in England where the entire titular village was created at Lime Tree Valley near Marlow, Buckinghamshire. The bulk of soundstage work was done at Leavesdon Studios and the Tree of the Dead scenes were filmed at Shepperton Studios.

The look and feel of the movie is reminiscent of the classic Hammer Horror films of the 1960’s and this is underlined by a mostly British cast. Perhaps Hammer’s most famous performer, Christopher Lee, even pops up in an early sequence as the burgomaster. Long time Burton collaborator Johnny Depp (this is their 3rd film together) appears as the lead Ichabod Crane, a police inspector sent to Sleepy Hollow by the burgomaster to investigate a series of grisly murders. The character of Ichabod was a school teacher in the original story by Washington Irving. Christina Ricci plays Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a wealthy land owner and ultimately the love interest for Depp’s character.

The Horseman costume decays as the film progresses. While he still has his head and being portrayed by Christopher Walken the costume is in a very smart condition. It would appear that the Hessian was quite a well to do gentleman, able to afford quality attire. After the decapitation the degeneration begins. The final costumes had a covering of wax that gave a very realistic mould effect and there was also the general wear and tear sustained by the character in battle. Some of the special effects tunics were riddled with bullet hits and stab wounds. The final Headless Horseman costumes of the film were almost unrecognizable in comparison to this example.

The costume was designed by double Oscar winner Colleen Atwood and she was nominated for her work here too. The costume is very ornate. The tunic features two large dragons finished in silver with red eyes and red tongues, the distinctive check pattern can be picked out at a great distance. The black gloves and the stunning long black boots are made from a unique leather, specially finished in Italy and supplied to Noel Howard and his team at MBA costumiers in London. Both are trimmed to reveal a centre of blood red. The cloak is distressed and torn, an elaborate swirling pattern in silver covers it and again, a hint of red is revealed throughout. The display is finished with a stunt version of one of the Horseman’s axes and a replica (from the original moulds) of the Horseman skull, the very item that controls him and is the item he must locate to be able to finally rest in peace. The costume is display on a custom made stand, featuring the movie logo which illuminates at the touch of a button.

Noel and Colleen succeeded in creating the physical embodiment of one of literatures most terrifying characters.