Sleepy Hollow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Sleepy Hollow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Sleepy no longer.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 11, 2014

There are few images as spooky in the entire annals of literature as that of the headless horseman who haunts Washington Irving's timeless tale of one Ichabod Crane. The image of a headless horseman actually predates Irving’s account by at least a few centuries, with tales by such legendary writers as the Grimm Brothers utilizing it before Irving made it so unforgettable in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving’s timeless tale has been adapted countless times for television and film, including entries as disparate as Walt Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. This new television iteration takes one beat from Burton’s approach by having the police involved with the mystery of the headless horseman, though in this case the setting is contemporary and both the horseman and Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) have mysteriously appeared in 21st century Sleepy Hollow, much to everyone’s consternation. There’s therefore a fish out of water (or timeframe) aspect to the series that provides some of its lighter weight material, while the spooky supernatural underpinning that helped to define Irving’s original piece bubbles just beneath the surface, breaking through at regular intervals as if to “reassure” the various characters that there’s something extremely mysterious going on in the quaint and picturesque New York village.

It becomes evident rather quickly in Sleepy Hollow that the show’s creative team is following in the well worn footsteps of such supernaturally themed shows as The X Files, something they themselves reference in one of the commentaries included on this new Blu- ray set. But there are important differences here, including the fact that neither of the two main characters is an avowed skeptic. While Crane may be more of a believer due to his unexpected “resurrection” several centuries after his supposed demise during the Revolutionary War, the young policeman with whom he eventually is partnered, Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), has her own convoluted backstory that makes her at least somewhat willing to concede that otherworldly events have been haunting her hometown of Sleepy Hollow since she herself was a child. That leaves some of the traditional “Scully-izing” pooh-poohing to such characters as Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones), Mills’ superior and a man who initially at least is looking for tried and true rational explanations for what’s been going on.

Sleepy Hollow has a fairly convoluted mythology built into its conceit, but it’s one that show wastes little time in divulging and then slowly building upon. Ready? Okay, here we go. In this version Ichabod Crane is a black ops member of sorts for none other than George Washington, working on some super secret plans that may have an occult foundation. He is warned about a Hessian soldier who must be stopped at all costs, and that turns out to be the headless horseman (who becomes headless courtesy of a well timed saber swipe by Crane himself). However, Crane is mortally wounded in the battle, and his wife Katrina (Katia Winter), who just happens to be a “good” witch, puts a spell on Ichabod, putting him in stasis. Unfortunately, Crane’s blood has mixed with the horseman’s, and so the two are now inextricably linked. Katrina and a well meaning priest throw the horseman’s headless body in a nearby river, but centuries later, some hidden force reaches out and awakens the horseman, and the linked Ichabod in the process. Once Ichabod and Abbie attempt to figure out what’s going on in the 21st century, a few well timed discoveries as well as some telepathic dreams from Katrina, who is trapped in some kind of magical dream world, let the pair know that the horseman is one of those horsemen—as in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalpyse. Got all that? Whew. (One thing the show's writers did not get is the correct name of the Biblical book from which Sleepy Hollow culls much of its mythology. It's the Book of Revelation. As in singular. Not "revelations". )

The series combines certain procedural elements with the creepier supernatural elements that defined such former shows as The X Files. But it’s those very supernatural elements that both offer Sleepy Hollow its most distinctive aspect while at the same time hobbling the series. How can that be? Take The X Files as a salient case in point. Scully and Mulder trotted hither and yon chasing down all sorts of boogie men and other inexplicable phenomena. Here, in Sleepy Hollow, everything is confined to one location, making the series an increasingly fragile construction of happenstance and spooky goings on in a quite limited geographical region. The fact that the show wants to make these happening global, if not downright cosmic, is distinctly at odds with everything being centered in one tiny village. Increasingly throughout the first season, the series repeatedly relies on a “monster of the week” that momentarily sidelines Ichabod and Abbie on their overall quest to quell the horseman and his siblings. In this regard, Sleepy Hollow has some of the same claustrophobic issues that plague the somewhat similar Haven.

There are also some troubling signs that Crane’s inability to cope with the modern world is going to provide shticky fodder for little humorous interstitials. A little of this gambit goes a long way, and it will be instructive to note how much the show depends on this technique going forward. In the meantime, there are some very interesting aspects to this show, despite some occasional missteps in the first season. The interplay between Mison and Beharie is quite enjoyable, and the show does have a great, Gothic atmosphere that serves the show very well. That said, Sleepy Hollow has a very tricky tightrope to walk here, hoping that the mythological aspects of the show don’t become so farfetched that the entire premise becomes unsupportable. The show’s writers are going to have to have their heads screwed on very tightly going forward.

Sleepy Hollow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sleepy Hollow is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Shot digitally with the Red Epic, Sleepy Hollow is a nicely sharp and detailed looking series in high definition, despite the prevalence of a lot of dark and/or color graded sequences. The show's flashbacks as well as Katrina's dream world are tweaked to be somewhat desaturated and even smeary looking, but fine detail is still exceptional, especially in close-ups. The contemporary world of Sleepy Hollow is fairly autumnal and wintry looking throughout many episodes, and so colors are often tamped down, though always accurate looking. A lot of the CGI is rather soft looking, with many scenes featuring the headless horseman looking almost painterly at times. Contrast is generally quite strong, and shadow detail is also above average even in nighttime sequences. There are no real issues with artifacts here, and Sleepy Hollow is quite evocative looking in its first season.

Sleepy Hollow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sleepy Hollow's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix offers excellent fidelity and good placement of some great sound effects. Listen for example in the opening episode when the modern day priest (who looks a lot like the priest back in Revolutionary War times) attempts to subdue the horseman with chains, and there's a wonderfully quick panning sound that explodes toward the rear channels. The galloping horse of the horseman also provides good panning sounds, and a number of other spooky doin's have nicely rendered foley effects which help to set the appropriately creepy mood. Dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly and there are no problems to report.

Sleepy Hollow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 11:47)


• The Corbin Files (1080p; 2:33) is an assemblage of little mini-mysteries excised from the hapless Sheriff's tape recorded musings on his files.


• Gag Reel (1080p; 2:36)


• Audio Commentaries:

  Pilot, featuring Heather Kadin, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Len Wiseman

  The Indispensable Man/Bad Blood, featuring Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Alex Kurtzman and Mark Goffman

• Welcome to Sleepy Hollow (1080p; 20:44) is a spoiler filled review of characters and plot points.


• Mysteries and Mythology: The Secrets of Sleepy Hollow (1080p; 19:18) is an interesting piece delving into the mythology that infuses the series. This also has a number of spoilers.


• Welcome to the 21st Century, Mr. Crane (1080p; 2:20) is an amusing look at some of the moments of consternation Ichabod endures as he attempts to understand our modern world.


• The Horseman (1080p; 2:56) looks at the series' horse wrangler as well as some of the horses used in the show.


• The Horseman's Head (1080p; 2:11) focuses both on the central mythology as well as the actual skull prop used in the show.

Sleepy Hollow: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sleepy Hollow's second season will probably tell the tale more fully as to whether this show can sustain its artifices without seeming to be sillier than it sometimes already has the tendency of being. There's a lot to like about this show, however, including a nicely acerbic turn by Mison as Crane, and an unusually nuanced portrayal by Beharie as the modern day cop with a troubled (and troubling) past. Some of the mythology may seem a bit over contrived at certain points, but there's no denying that Sleepy Hollow is often a quite inventive reimagining of classic characters and tropes. Technical merits are very strong on this Blu-ray set, and Sleepy Hollow comes Recommended.