Revealing mistake: When the headless horseman's head is being dropped into his grave it bounces on the dirt like rubber.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Plot summary
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christopher Lee, Christopher Walken, Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Jeffrey Jones, Casper Van Dien, Richard Griffiths, Michael Gough, Ian McDiarmid
A police constable called Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to find a murderer who has already beheaded three people. He learns that a headless ghost is comitting the murders, but he has to find out who is telling the ghost to do it. On the way, he meets a beautiful girl whose boyfriend is conveniently killed, and Ichabod subsequently falls in love.
Charley
Brom Van Brunt: We haven't heard your name yet, friend.
Ichabod Crane: I have not said it.
Trivia: Numerous references to other Tim Burton films: a) The dress Katrina Anne Van Tassel wears at the end is similar to Beetlejuice's outfit. b) Crane has various sharp scissor-like tools, which is a reference to Johnny Depp's early film "Edward Scissorhands" (1989). c) The scarecrow at the beginning looks exactly like Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1994). d) The covered bridge is a lot like the bridge in "Beetlejuice."
Question: Why was The Headless Horseman ordered to kill the Killian family including their incredibly young son?
Answer: As revealed by Lady Van Tassel to Katrina during the film's climax, the midwife Mrs. Killian was abreast of the secrets regarding the affairs of Peter Van Garrett with the widow Winship, as well as their unborn child. Mrs. Killian revealed this secret to Lady Van Tassel right in front of Mr. Killian, which signed both of their death warrants. However, Lady Van Tassel most likely commanded the Headless Horseman to kill the Killians (as opposed to just saying Mr. & Mrs. Killian), to which the Horseman would instinctively murder their child too. It may have been an oversight on the part of Lady Van Tassel, as the child would undoubtedly be ignorant of affairs and the intricacies of legal matters regarding wills, but then again, she probably didn't care anyway.
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Suggested correction: It doesn't bounce off the dirt, it slightly bounces off his chest plate, as physics would dictate.
Phaneron ★