Audio problem: Near the end of the movie, when Ichabod gives the horseman his head back, in one shot, the horseman has his sword in one hand, and in the next shot he puts his head on with both hands; yet we do not hear any sound of him either dropping his sword or re-sheathing it.
Continuity mistake: We are told that the horseman's sword cauterises the wounds it makes. Earlier on in the film, however, the cuts cause squirts of blood to fly into the air, such as when the scarecrow is sprayed with blood. (00:03:40)
Ichabod Crane: Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue.
Trivia: When Crane starts chopping the Tree of the Dead and he gets blood in his face, this was a joke from the directors as they knew he wasn't expecting the blood. You can see the look of surprise on his face. It was well-known among the cast and crew that Johnny Depp (who played Crane) hated anything being sprayed in his face.
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.
Phaneron ★