Revealing mistake: When Brom (disguised as the horseman) throws the jack-o-lantern at Ichabod, there is a shot from Ichabod's perspective showing the jack-o-lantern flying toward him. It jiggles from side to side, revealing it was travelling on a wire.
Revealing mistake: When the headless horseman's head is being dropped into his grave it bounces on the dirt like rubber.
Continuity mistake: In the flashback to the death of the headless horseman, when the horseman's steed gets shot and falls to the ground, the blood and the wound are on the right side of the horse...later in the scene when the horse is seen again, the wound is on the left side of the horse. (00:16:45)
Trivia: Christopher Walken doesn't speak a single word in the entire course of the movie.
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.
Trivia: Numerous references to other Tim Burton films: a) The dress Katrina Anne Van Tassel wears at the end is similar to Beetlejuice's outfit. b) Crane has various sharp scissor-like tools, which is a reference to Johnny Depp's early film "Edward Scissorhands" (1989). c) The scarecrow at the beginning looks exactly like Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1994). d) The covered bridge is a lot like the bridge in "Beetlejuice."
Ichabod Crane: Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue.
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.
Brom Van Brunt: We haven't heard your name yet, friend.
Ichabod Crane: I have not said it.
Question: When going to kill the Killians, how did the Horseman know that Thomas was hiding under the floor? Thomas stayed completely still and didn't make a sound.
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.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Suggested correction: It doesn't bounce off the dirt, it slightly bounces off his chest plate, as physics would dictate.
Phaneron ★