The Hollow

Washington Irving's short story 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow', which the screenwriters don't seem to have understood fully, provides the basis for this fair-to-middling effort. A new kid at Sleepy Hollow, New York's high school is actually a blood relative of the original Ichabod Crane. The family name has been changed to "Cranston", so nobody knows about his ancestry. Purely by coincidence, the innocent teen is hired to tell the story of the Headless Horseman to groups of kids as part of the town's Halloween celebration. (What were the odds?) Cemetery caretaker Stacy Keach is the requisite Crazy Old Guy who knows the "truth" behind the famous story but, as is so often the case with Crazy Old Guys, nobody will listen to him until it's too late and heads have begun to roll. THE HOLLOW tells us that Irving's famous folk tale was more-or-less true, kind of like how RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD told us the events in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD really happened. Unfortunately this movie has little of RETURN's wit or energy. The characters are basically all teen movie stereotypes, including the nice handsome kid, the hot-headed jock, the cute cheerleader, the football coach who's a jerk, and so forth. There are some first-rate, briefly-seen CGI effects, including a shocking moment in which a girl has her head lopped off by the Horseman's sword while she's running away, shown onscreen with no cuts (other than the decapitation, that is). The film has a beautiful autumnal look with all the outdoor night sequences artfully lit with warm oranges, yellows and greens, but it's a shame the trees and assorted foliage don't really suggest New York in the fall. The most damaging problem from a visual standpoint is the fact that not only does this Headless Horseman have a head, but that it's a big, goofy-looking oversized pumpkin. Sure, he kills people, but in truth he looks a little bit ridiculous riding around with that big silly pumpkin mask. All in all the movie isn't a disaster or anything, just a very run-of-the-mill teen slasher entry with a supernatural killer and a tenuous link to a famous work of fiction. Don't expect brilliance, but THE HOLLOW might be worth a watch in the fall if you enjoy movies set at Halloween (like I do).

Although, the tale of the Headless Horseman has been told in previous films, Kyle Newman's directorial effort for "The Hollow" is not bad, but not good either. Set in the modern day, The Hollow tells the story of a young teenager named Ian played by Kevin Zegers. Ian happens to be interested in a girl at the local highschool played by Kaley Cuoco. Although she is dating the highschool quaterback (Nick Carter) she falls in love with Ian. But things go wrong when Ian discovers he is the great-great grandson of Icahbod Crane, and on Halloween, the legend of the headless horseman rides again and begins a grisly slaughter against the teenagers of the town. It is up to Ian to stop him. The Hollow lacks suspense and some occasional bad acting, but the story and the musical score kept the film at pace. It was interesting to see Joseph Mazzolo in a film, since he has not been familiar in films since "Jurassic Park". Also Stacy Keach steels the film has the mysterious graveyard keeper who knows the secret of the horseman and Ian's past, and it was nice to see Judge Reinhold as the abusive father type and Oscar nominee Eileen Brennan (Private Benjamin), as usual, looking mean and cruel. Above all, The Hollow, really could have used a tad more originality and maybe shifted a little bit instead of the standard teen slasher film, but you can't except much from a film such as this.

The Hollow is the kind of film you watch with a bunch of friends and family who have a good sense of humor. The story uses the archetypal Headless Horseman theme and does a silly bit with poor Washington Irving's grave, but Stacey Keach is priceless as the curmudgeonly Klaus Van Ripper. The name alone is a hoot. What makes this film better ,for me anyway, is that my family and I visit Sleepy Hollow every Halloween for their Legend Weekend festivities. The original Keach character still gives tours of the Old Dutch Church where the bridge used to be and we got some great photographs of him amongst the graves of the Van Alan family. Anyhow, The Hollow, despite some gratuitous gore is not a bad escape for a rainy night and a bowl of popcorn. In addition, the hayride in the film is actually modeled after the Haunted Hayride in Sleepy Hollow that the local High School has been hosting for years.

In THE HOLLOW, the legend of the Headless Horseman just might be real. On the eve of the annual "haunted hayride", creepy cemetery groundskeeper, Claus Van Ripper (Stacy Keach) warns people of the Horseman's return. Shockingly, no one believes him.

Then, teens from the local high school start disappearing, causing absolutely no response from law enforcement!

Of course, this movie wouldn't be complete without someone finding out that they're a direct descendant of Ichabod Crane. His name is Ian (Kevin Zegers) and this... is... his... des-tin-y...

Soon enough, the heads start flying!

This movie somehow manages to be both grisly and quaint at the same time. Kaley Cuoco co-stars as Karen the cheerleader soon-to-be ex-girlfriend of the extremely annoying school quarterback.

Also watch for Eileen Brennan in a humorous cameo, and Judge Reinhold as Ian's crabby dad.

Great Halloween fun...

first off I really enjoyed this movie,, sure it's' a little campy with a lot of teenagers and stuff, but other than that the story wasn't bad at all,, I love all of the camera shots of the Headless Horseman going by and killing people,, especially the scene on the bridge. STacey Keach and Eileen Brennan are also in this and I really loved those actors because it gives the film a more "legend" feel,, our main character a teenage boy finds out he is the great great grandson of Ichabod Crane, so dealing with that , him and a bunch of other teens see a Headless Horseman riding through town,, they have to figure out if the legend is real or is it one of their classmates playing a prank,, this was a fairly good movie,, I didn't have too many complaints.