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)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christopher Lee, Christopher Walken, Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Jeffrey Jones, Casper Van Dien, Richard Griffiths, Michael Gough, Ian McDiarmid
The headless horseman gets his head back. It was Katrina's stepmother controlling him, and he takes her back to hell with him. Ichabod takes Katrina and Young Masbath back to New York with him.
Charley
More mistakes in Sleepy Hollow
Ichabod Crane: The millennium is almost upon us. In a few months, we will be living in the nineteenth century. But our courts continue to rely on medieval devices of torture.
High Constable: Stand down.
Ichabod Crane: I stand up for sense and justice.
Trivia: Christopher Walken doesn't speak a single word in the entire course of the movie.
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 ★