Customer Reviews

Headless Horseman

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie did in fact appear on the Sci-fi channel just a few days before Halloween last year (2007).

As a big Headless Horseman and "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" fan, I really enjoyed this movie.
I must say, that if you are solely a fan of Washington Irving's classic literary story, this movie will probably not appeal to you, because the only thing that this movie has in common with Irving's story is the Headless Horseman. The similarities end there.


As with "Sleepy Hollow", "The Hollow" and other movies, this is a new take on the Headless Horseman legend.
I must warn you, this movie is pretty bloody. If you dont enjoy seeing heads cut off, you wont enjoy it very much. lol

I enjoyed it, because I like the way that they depicted the Headless Horseman. He is cool looking and we see some new things from him that we havent before. Most people think that The Headless Horseman only rides a horse. In this movie, we get a glimpse of him on a motorcycle. Also, in another scene, the Headless Horseman actually flies briefly. I also loved the scenes where "Headless" wears a lighted pumpkin on his shoulders. It's a fantastic Halloween movie, but it can be enjoyed all year 'round.

I can do without all of that "evil" nonsense. In Irving's story, the Headless Horseman wasnt evil. A case can be made that he never even hurt anyone. He just liked to scared the heck out of the Sleepy Hollow villagers.


That is the one thing that I dont like about some of the "Headless" movies.I like to think of "Headless" as a good guy who scares others, but doesnt actually hurt anybody.


This movie has some funny scenes and the actors/actresses do a good job.
I was worried that it would be a "bust". But this movie actually is pretty good. The fact that "Headless" looks cool, and flies, rides the motorcycle, and wears the lighted pumpkin, makes it a 5 Star movie for me.


To summarize, if you are looking for a story about Ichabod Crane, Katrina Van Tassel and Sleepy Hollow, this movie is not for you.

However, if you are looking for a cool movie to enjoy which depicts the Headless Horseman opening up a can of headless whoop-butt, this is the perfect movie for you.

It's a fun movie, as long as you dont take it seriously.

It is after all, simply a movie.

Possible Spoilers: Headless Horseman reminded me of a `Sci-fi original' movie with a slightly bigger budget and better acting (I think it was on the Sci-fi channel, actually). A group of friends are on their way to a party, when they decide to take a short cut. Their car breaks down and they end up in a small town that is overrun with sinister townsfolk, where they are picked off one-by-one by `Headless'.

Original, huh? Well, I loved every minute of this movie. Of course, I enjoy cheesy horror movies that mix horror with a little bit of humor. Some of the deaths are laughable (they use C-G blood a lot of the time!); however; overall it's just an enjoyable low budjet, sometime creepy, movie.

The actors are great too. Billy Aaron Brown is adorable as the geeky lead. Trish Coren is great and she reunites with her Boo! (another great Sci-Fi movie you should check out) costar M. Steven Felty.

Definitely recommended for all cheesy made-for-T.V. horror lovers. If you are into serious, big budget horror films then this movie is not for you.

In HEADLESS HORSEMAN, director Anthony Ferrante takes considerable liberties with the classic short story by Washington Irving by cloaking it in a grabbag of Revolutionary War Gothicism mixed liberally with the Slasher Teen genre of countless Freddie and Jason retreads. Here, Ferrante places seven teens in a car. These teens include the usual dopy kids, geeks, drama queens, and jock heads. En route to a party, they take a short cut and wind up in an out of the way secluded town called Wormwood, a title which bears no resemblance to the famous line from HAMLET. They learn that more than two centuries ago, a psycho killer liked to lop off the heads of his victims and he continued to do so until the towns people chopped his off in revenge. But wait! Just as true evil never dies, the killer returned every seven years (minus his head) to seek new victims to decapitate. He would ride a black horse and swing various lethal edged weapons to collect his heads. By the time the teens learn all this they find out that their noggins are the true prize.

HEADLLESS HORSEMAN manages to mix some pretty macabre humor with some gross out scenes of head slicing gore. Richard Moll is the movie's only known actor as he plays a mean-spirited country bumpkin store owner who knows only too well what lies in store for the teens. One of the female leads plays a resident who surprisingly enough sympathizes with these stranded youngsters and spends most of the time walking around in a fetching short shorts and revealing blouse that make her seem like a reincarnated Elly May Clampett from the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES. The Horseman himself does far more than merely ride on his steed. He is as equally at home on a motorcycle as he is on his feet. He is, not unsurprisingly enough, immune to the many rifle bullets that come his way. There is an unexpected poke at the stereotype of inbreeding in secluded mountain family groups. Richard Moll, in explaining that the current generation of genetically defective residents all of whom are the direct descendents of the Horseman, notes that he and his clan are merely engaged in "repopulating the town." What emerges by the last reel of HEADLESS HORSEMAN is the unsettling notion that ancient evil and modern grim humor sometimes have to co-exist in a manner that does no favor for either victim or predator.

Seven teens embark on a road trip to Hell when they decide to pass through the small town of Sleepy Hollow, home of The Headless Horseman, who has returned to collect seven heads before returning to his fiery grave. Director Anthony C. Ferrante's sophomore effort is much more polished than his debut in BOO, however his teen characters are none the more wiser and just as predictable as they had been before. Washington Irving must have been spinning in his grave during the film's production, as this version of The Horseman's tale would be entirely unremarkable were it not for the outrageous amount of bloodshed. Ferrante includes countless beheadings, with instruments ranging from halberds, to throwing discs, to trusty car trunks. One interesting difference that is unique to this retelling is that The Horseman's head slowly begins to regrow with each head that he takes. While it certainly isn't the definitive take on the story (a spot reserved for Burton's superior SLEEPY HOLLOW), there is enough blood and carnage to make this a worthy Slasher effort.

-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies

Many of you are probably surprised by the 4 star rating I gave this movie. Give me a chance to explain. I'm not rating this movie to oscar winning performances or even movies that have stood the test of time. I'm comparing this movie to other B- horror movies. I thought the effects were pretty cool for being a low budget movie. I actually enjoyed watching the partying teens get murdered since they were annoying enough so you don't feel sorry for them. I know most are disappointed since there is no sex or nudity involved. There was a really good looking local girl who's helping the teens escape.I also thought there was some hilarious scenes thrown in there If you like low budget horror flicks this is for you. If your going to dissect this movie and the acting don't bother it will be a waste of time. Just sit back and don't lose your head about the plot it's just a movie to escape. Don't expect more than a good old time b horror movie at its best.

While better than average, "Headless Horseman" is yet another example of how the industry corrupts a genre by running winning formulas into the ground, in this case the old familial horror category. Although started by "Psycho" back in 1960, the genre did not really get going until the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". It combined the weird family stuff with elements from 'Deliverance" to portray backwoods American people as demented in-breds who bring their victims to a place they have turned into a slaughterhouse; insert obligatory junk yard of prior victims stuff - which in this case includes a bucket of cell phones which made little sense since later on you learn that the killings only happen for one day every seven years.

"Headless Horseman" adds in some "Wrong Turn", "House of Wax", and "Sleepy Hollow" stuff to the standard mix. Although not much of a story it does have excellent production design, about the right level of computer effects, and a cast that includes several great looking actresses.

Best of all it subtly takes the self-parody route, everything is played straight-but just enough over the top to provide some amusement value to a discerning viewer (the Candy character and Richard Moll's shopkeeper being the best examples of this). The obvious absurdities make it easy to suspend disbelief- knowing that not even a complete idiot would behave the way these characters do at times throughout the movie.

Seven college kids find themselves being systematically exterminated by a horseman from hell (who at times has a head and at other times is headless) in the backwoods of Missouri. There is less misogyny than usual and the writer manages to avoid the usual off-kilter moral force that punishes the cast for engaging in sex and mild drug use (they do neither). There is a fair amount of gore but the "R" rating is extreme; the film should not be a problem for anyone of middle school age or older.

The DVD has not special features related to the film itself.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Okay i saw the intro of the movie online and I ran RANNNNNNN to buy it. It's basically visually the look of some movie you'd see on ABC family. Other than the occasional curse word and blood scenes, they could have made this a pg-13 tv movie and it's would have worked better.

Ummmm i didn't get the characters, they were too different to be hanging out In my opinion. but once that corniness at the beginning was set aside the movie got interesting. The other annoying thing about this movie was that the lighting showed it was DAYTIME A LOOOOTTTT for a horror movie that turned the eery factor off big time. If it was dusk i'd have accepted it.

the Horseman is greeeaatttt though. I think really it was just some of the storyline was terrible. If someone dies shouldn't you cry and not crack jokes? if you know someone's out to get you, shouldn't you be jogging/running instead of casually walking like you're window shopping. First death scene for the teenagers was just duuuuuummmmmmbbbbb, that could have been shot better, perhaps the girl should have yelled for him or something should have crept behind her. that was just dumbbbbb. And the sheriff and the cop, DUMMMMMBBBB

iT'S OKAY TO WATCH but i'm so sick of seeing movies that take the realism out and replace it to a DUMMMMB EXTTREEEMEEE. (I need people to for real think about how someone would act in a situation, then relay that onto film. If it's a horror movie someone should be scared right?)

Syfy's "Headless Horseman" (2007) is not based on Washington Irving's tale of "Sleepy Hollow," but why should it be since the headless horseman had been a motif of European folklore since at least the Middle ages? Irving simply borrowed the monster for his tale.

The film was shot in Romania but the story takes place in Missouri. A group of youths take a shortcut to a distant party and end-up in the cursed hamlet of Wormwood, where they encounter the diabolical headless horseman who wants their heads. Because the town is cursed and has a pit-gateway to hell the inhabitants are wont to help the horseman get his heads, except for one person.

The film only plays it semi-straight with a strong air of self-parody or camp, which means it's impossible to take seriously and you won't find the various horror antics chilling in any way, shape or form, unless maybe you're under-aged. But this doesn't mean it's not entertaining.

"Headless Horseman" takes elements from flicks like "House of Wax (Widescreen Edition)," "Ogre - Unrated," "Sleepy Hollow" and "Wrong Turn" and does a decent job despite its TV budget. If you're a fan of those types of films you'll likely appreciate "Headless Horseman." I prefer it to the latter two.

The film excels in its sense of horrific fun. Beyond that it has a quality cast of no-names and a good `lost town' set. The no-name cast features not one, not two, not three, but four good-looking young women, including Elizabeth Prestel as Candy and Arianne Fraser as Tiffany. No nudity or sex, but it's not needed, and Candy has a couple of really cute outfits. Excellent job on this front.

As far as the special effects go, mostly CGI, I was impressed during the first half but they got pretty bad by the final act. This was a case where less would've been more, but I guess the filmmakers felt they HAD to have an effects-laden finale. Too bad, because it really detracted from the film.

Still, "Headless Horseman" is a quality low-budget horror flick that mostly gives the viewer the entertainment expected and desired. It's not serious horror in the sense of taking seriously or provoking real chills, not at all, but it's pretty darn entertaining.

GRADE: B-

One of my all time favorite stories is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I remember watching the classic Disney cartoon when I was younger and loving Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. This film is a decent take on the tale with some cool speical effects and some bad speical effects. The story starts off with seven teenagers get standard in a deserted town with a few people left. Anyways, one of the dumb thing is the plot of the film. The Headless Horseman decapitates one teen at a time and returns thirty minutes later to reclaim anther head. So why cant the kids escape the town before he returns? Well it's a movie and your need to suspend all logic and just enjoy the film-good or bad. They had good speical effects like when the horseman started to grow his head back but some speical effects looked really cheesy. One death scene was incredibly bad and you can tell they did it all on a computer. Overall, if your a fan of the Tim Burton classic then I recommend this movie. It's nowheres as good as his film but it's still enjoyable take on the story.

I enjoyed this one. I felt there should have been more blood and gore. But it was a cool new direction to take the movie.