" (Ebert 2).
This important theme becomes somewhat apparent when the movie begins. Ichabod Crane, a scientifically minded constable portrayed masterfully by veteran Burton actor Johnny Depp, is sent to the quiet and dreary town of Sleepy Hollow to solve gruesome murders. When he arrives, the townsfolk are quick to explain that they have solved the murders already. Notary Hardenbrook, played by Michael Gough, explains that the heads have been "Taken taken by the Headless Horseman taken back to Hell" (Burton Sleepy Hollow). The townsfolk immediately inform Crane of the Horseman's history, suggesting that the only book Crane needs to read for research is the Holy Bible. Crane is quick to reject their mythic sensibilities and believes that, "Murder, need no ghost come back from the grave" (Burton Sleepy Hollow). .
From there, we have our setup for the rest of the film. Burton's tale does do Irving's Ichabod character justice by showing off Crane's wacky and highly unusual procedures and tendencies. Crane carries a suitcase that resembles an overstuffed chemistry set while also wearing self-mocking magnification glasses enlarging his eyes to bizarre extremes. Crane sprinkles chemicals on the corpse's bodies as he finds them, and sprouts off useless information and conclusions. Just like Irving's character, Burton makes sure to let it be no secret that Ichabod is in fact scared, but won't admit it. He gets tight when looking at the gruesome injuries and even screeches at the sight of a spider in his bedroom. He even faints during his first encounter with the legendary Headless Horseman.
While Tim Burton is great artist and can masterfully paint a picture within a film, his films on a whole usually fall short of the mark, mostly because Burton tends to put "looks" on a higher pedestal than story. He uses characters as visual props and visual superficiality. It seems that many of Burton's so-called "horror" films turn out to be not that horrific at all, and in turn tend to be less entertaining.