Double Feature

October 2009 - October is here and I am counting down the days to the Poe show at Mount Hope Estate and Winery near Lancaster. Once the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire wraps up, the actors move inside the mansion and do their best impressions of Edgar Allan Poe's most terrifying tales.

If you know your Poe, then you know that Poe died in Baltimore, which is the setting for an R-rated movie from 1987 called The Bedroom Window. Steve Guttenberg plays Terry, who works at some upscale construction company. He's young and cute and hot for Sylvia, the boss's wife. They rendezvous at Terry's place. That’s where Sylvia hears a commotion outside the bedroom window. She sees a young woman named Denise (Elizabeth McGovern) being attacked by a pale, red-headed guy. He spots Sylvia and takes off before Terry can get to the window.

In order to protect Sylvia and keep their affair secret, Terry tells the police that he's the one who witnessed the attack. But, that plan has some flaws and, as women keep getting killed, the cops begin to wonder if Terry's the real criminal.

Overall review: Ehhh, it was OK. I rented this movie back in the Nineties solely because I happened to be working with a reporter who has a cameo in the film. This time, I actually paid attention to the movie as a whole, and it's not as cheesy as I remember. Still, parts of the plot are far-fetched, Baltimore is wasted as a setting and I didn't much care for the music.

On the flip side, a soundtrack from Danny Elfman highlights Sleepy Hollow, an R-rated film from 1999 in which director Tim Burton bloodies up Washington Irving's classic tale of the headless horseman. Johnny Depp plays the intrepid Ichabod Crane. Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson and Christopher Walken round out the cast.

The story is set in 1799. Depp's Ichabod is a policeman in New York City who believes in the power of forensics and reasoning to solve crimes. For his newfangled beliefs, he gets sent upstate to creepy little Sleepy Hollow, where a headless horseman is running amok.

Ichabod is sent to investigate the murders of three people. But, once he arrives, the headless horseman picks up the pace. By the end of the film, some 17 people have been killed directly or indirectly as a result of the horseman's rampage. Of the Van Garretts and the Van Tassels, Sleepy Hollow's most prominent families, Christina Ricci is the only one to survive the slaughter.

Overall review: Liked it. Even for director Tim Burton, who never lets a little blood get in the way of a good story, 17 bodies is a lot. There's even more blood as Ichabod emerges from an autopsy. The red blood stands in stark contrast to a set that is generally washed out and devoid of color. Add the usual terrific score from Elfman, and Burton delivers a film that is interesting to see and to hear.