Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Inspector Crane is sent to a small village to investigate a series of beheadings.
Genre
Characters/Groups
Katrina Van Tassel - Christina Ricci
Lady Van Tassel - Miranda Richardson
Baltus Van Tassel - Michael Gambon
Brom Van Brunt - Casper Van Dien
Reverend Steenwyck - Jeffrey Jones
Magistrate Philipse - Richard Griffiths
Doctor Lancaster - Ian McDiarmid
Notary Hardenbrook - Michael Gough
Hessian Horseman - Christopher Walken
Young Masbath - Marc Pickering
High Constable - Alun Armstrong
Jonathan Masbath - Mark Spalding
Thomas Killian - Sean Stephens
Doctor Lancaster's Wife - Gabrielle Lloyd
Dirk Van Garrett - Robert Sella
Thuggish Constable - Jamie Foreman
Constable One - Philip Martin Brown
Young Lady Van Tassel - Tessa Allen-Ridge
Young Crone - Cassandra Farndale
Peter Van Garrett - Martin Landau
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
Peter Van Garrett writes and signs his last will and testament which is witnessed by Jonathan Masbath. As Peter is traveling in his carriage, driven by Dirk Van Garrett, a horse quickly rides by. He hears the sound of a scythe and looks outside his carriage window and sees Dirk, now headless. Peter jumps out of the carriage and into a corn field where he too has his head cut off.
In New York City in 1799, Ichabod Crane rings a bell for help. He then tells two deputies of a body he found in the river. Thuggish Constable and another constable bring the body on a cart and the High Constable tells them to burn the body. Crane thinks they should do an autopsy, but the High Constable thinks doing an autopsy would be barbaric. Constable One brings in someone arrested for burglary, and the burglar is thrown in the pit. At the trial of Spotty Man?, Crane criticizes the way the courts treat evidence and prisoners in front of the High Constable and Burgomaster. The High Constable threatens to throw Crane into jail, but instead orders Crane to investigate a series of murders in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Crane releases his pet cardinal and then takes a carriage to Sleepy Hollow.
While on his journey, Crane reads notes about the victims and looks at a series of small scars he has on his hand. He arrives in town and sees Young Masbath saying goodbye to Jonathan Masbath as Jonathan prepares to start his shift on night watch duty. He makes his way to the Van Tassel home and sees a couple kissing outside. He is grabbed by Katrina Van Tassel, who is wearing a blindfold, and kissed, which angers a jealous Brom Van Brunt. He tells her he is looking for Baltus Van Tassel and Brom gets upset when Crane ignores his request to state who he is. Baltus walks into the room with Lady Van Tassel and Crane presents his credentials to Baltus. After Crane is giving a room in Baltus' home, Baltus stares at Magistrate Philipse who then turns to look at Doctor Lancaster and Doctor Lancaster's Wife. Crane tells Sarah (Sleepy Hollow)|Sarah to tell Baltus he will be back downstairs in a moment and Sarah tells him she is glad he is there. Crane is introduced by Baltus to Doctor Lancaster, Reverend Steenwyck, Philipse, and Notary Hardenbrook. Crane goes over the list of the dead, including Widow Winship and Steenwyck tells him the heads of the deceased were never found. Hardenbrook tells Crane their heads were taken by the Hessian Horseman|Headless Horseman and Baltus relays the background of the Hessian Horseman. The Hessian Horseman was a Hessian mercenary sent to fight against the American revolutionaries. While trying to escape, his horse Daredevil (Sleepy Hollow)|Daredevil was shot and while escaping he came across Young Lady Van Tassel and Young Crone who are gathering wood. The Hessian tells them to be quiet, and Young Lady Van Tassel breaks a stick she is carrying, alerting the revolutionaries who cut off the Hessian's head with his own sword. Steenwyck tells Crane the only thing he should read is the Bible and when Crane opens it, he finds a family tree for most of the families of Sleepy Hollow inside. While on watch duty, Jonathan sees something which makes him leave the safety of his post and run in the woods. He is chased down and has his head cut off by the Headless Horseman. The next day, Crane purchases Gunpowder (Sleepy Hollow)|Gunpowder from Killian as Beth Killian says goodbye to a patient and then tells Thomas Killian to come inside. A horsemen shouts that the Headless Horsemen has killed again and at the site of the body, Baltus tells Theodore to get a cart to carry away the body while Doctor Lancaster, Steenwyck, Philipse, Brom, Glenn, Rifleman and Van Ripper stand nearby. Crane and Killian arrive and Crane uses scientific techniques to figure out how the Horseman killed Jonathan. After Jonathan's funeral, Young Masbath walks up to Crane offers to work for Crane, but Crane tells him he cannot accept his services. Philipse tells Crane that there were actually five victims, but in four graves and Crane hires on Young Masbath. In the morning they dig up the dead killed by the Horseman and Crane finds a stab wound in the Widow Winship's belly. He does an autopsy and finds she was pregnant. While Crane is riding to the Van Tassel home, he is chased by someone who seemingly has no head and who throws a flaming pumpkin at him. The rider gallops away and Brom reveals himself to be the rider and laughs with Glenn and another friend. Crane remembers his childhood and giving flowers to Lady Crane. He remembers how Lady Crane showed him witchcraft and was caught by Lord Crane. His memories continue to how Lady Crane showed him a thaumatrope to calm him down during a storm. Crane finds Katrina reading a book which she then hides and tells him about the death of her mother and the history of her family. She offers him a magic book, and he initially refuses to take it. They ride to the Van Tassel's original home and Crane shows Katrina the thaumatrope his mother used to show him. In the evening, Crane catches Steenwyck, Doctor Lancaster, Hardenbrook and Philipse arguing. He confronts Philipse who admits the Widow Winship told him she was pregnant and by whom. As they are talking, the Horseman rides up and chops off Philipse's head and then takes it. Back at the Van Tassel home and after relating what he saw to Katrina and Baltus, Crane faints. He remembers more of his childhood including more of Lady Crane's magic and then when Lord Crane found out she was a witch. He walks out of his room and invites Baltus and the other village elders to come with him to find the Horseman's grave, but only Young Masbath will go with him. As they are riding, Young Masbath tells Crane, Jonathan worked for the Van Garrett's and they lived on their property and he heard Peter and Dirk fighting a few nights before their deaths. They find a cave in the woods and speak to the Crone in the cave, who tells Crane where he can find the grave of the Horseman.