SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH

Directed by Kevin Summerfield and Chris Arth Produced, Photographed, and Edited by Chris Arth Written by Kevin Summerfield Shannon - Meagan Lopez Z - Ruben Brown Diana - Wendy Donigian Jay - Matt Evers Bobbi - Maria Cooper Mr. E - Kevin Summerfield Pumpkin Man - Antonio Benedict

When I was younger, I was plagued by a reoccurring dream where I was hunted, and ulimately killed, by the Headless Horseman. Sometimes the dream varied, if he couldn't lob off my head, he would throw me down a well and let me drown. Getting back to sleep was always hard, sometimes I couldn't.

It always seemed like a logical idea to turn this dream into a feature. Kevin Summerfield and Chris Arth beat me to it. By meshing gothic horror with the trendy teen-slasher genre, they made one amazingly fun movie.

If you've seen any of the teen-slasher flicks that have clogged movie theater screens over the past few years, then you know all the characters: Drug Dealer and his Sidekick, Computer Nerd, Angst-Ridden Bitch, Joe Average, and the obligatory Soon-to-be-Dead Teacher. In fact, the only characters missing are Jennifer Love Hewitt's boobs.

If you're here for the characters, then you're watching the wrong movie. The only character that matters in a slasher movie is the slasher. What's the hook (no pun intended) that makes him stand out? What's the mask look like? What is his death-dealing instrument of choice?

What better slasher than a tall, lanky guy with a pumpkin for a head and a 3 foot long, razor-sharp broadsword?

If you look back among all the classic monsters, very few are from American decent. Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolfman, all stem from European literature or legend. Since Washington Irving's famous short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was written over a century ago, there has never been an American, horror-based, figure who has made such an impression. There have been theatrical films, TV movies, Disney cartoons, and even an episode of Scooby Doo, all using the character. It only seems natural that he be brought into a modern light. Summerfield and Arth do so wonderfully.

SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH has a great number of things going for it. For a slasher film, it's smartly written. The dialogue is sharp, well above the usual, mundane drivel Hollywood types seem to think kids speak today. The use of scenery is near perfect, the setting is wonderfully used to set the tone. It doesn't get more beautiful than the North Atlantic coast in the fall. The score is done surprisingly well and used effectively to highten tension.

The DVD contains numerous odds and ends that make it worth picking up: Behind the scenes documentaries, great commentary by Summerfield and Arth, out-takes, and the film's trailer, all of which are pretty standard. The real prizes were created exlusively for the DVD release, a music video with the cast which appeared be film during some downtime, and a mock-documentary called Curse of Sleepy Hollow, a beautifully absurdist take on all of The Blair Witch Project hype.

Summerfield has come a long way since GAME OF PLEASURE, a film I disliked for many reasons. After watching that one, I never wanted to watch anything with his name on it again. Now I'm looking forward to the next project to see if he can continue to improve.

The DVD version comes with a wealth of goodies that makes the m