Originally airing on the "ABC Family" channel this certainly isn't 1999's Sleepy Hollow, in fact it's not really much of anything as it's squarely aimed at teens in the "15 and under" crowd with a young cast of "up and comers" (with Nick Carter of music group "The Backstreet Boys" in there for good measure), some watered down bloodshed, and a few moments of pretty mild sexual innuendo.

Kevin Zegers stars as a "new-to-town" teen who's just moved into the small town of Sleepy Hollow and who likes to try and scare the locals with elaborate tales about the headless horseman and school teacher Icabob Crane from Washington Irving's classic story, "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow". He's constantly being harassed by football jock Carter, is being flirted with by cheerleader Kaley Cuoco (which leads to all sorts of innocuous, and quite groanable, chatter between the two of them and has Carter's character quite jealous), and is constantly bothered by nutty cemetery caretaker Stacy Keach who is trying to convince him he's related to the Crane character from the story and that the horseman "has come back for ye..." (a line he repeats a whole slew of times).

The Hollow really doesn't offer too much to the regular horror film fan as it's a pretty low-scale effort that was seemingly made to entertain the younger crowd just in time for Halloween. However, it could've been a lot worse and it'll more than please its intended audience with its cloying soundtrack of unknown alternative acts, PG-13 level mayhem, and fresh-faced cast. Carter really should stick to singing as he brings nothing to his role (and has an annoying "white boy gangsta" accent to boot), but the rest of the cast is fine even if it feels like Keach and second-run star Judge Reinhold are only it in to give the adults in the audience some familiar faces.

I'm not really sure why this movie comes to DVD in an R-rated cut as apart from a few moments of bloody neck stumps and a scene in a graveyard with a little bit of mild sexual shenanigans it's pretty tame. And speaking of that sex scene, who the Hell would still want to make-out with a girl who spouts lines like, "Let's put the fun in funeral" and "Teach me the true meaning of boneyard"? Apart from that this could easily get away with a PG rating, as there's nothing really here that wouldn't be appropriate for the younger crowd.

For us viewers over sixteen it'll be hard to get much enjoyment out of The Hollow because even though the silly looking pumpkin-headed killer is amusing to look at the film pretty much lives up to its title. And my prayers of Carter dying a horrible death weren't answered either, which is truly a shame... (Chris Hartley, 8/30/05)

Directed By: Kyle Newman.
Written By: Hans Rodionoff.

Starring: Kevin Zegers, Kaley Cuoco, Nick Carter, Nicholas Turturro.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: The transfer here isn't too bad as I didn't notice an over-abundance of grain and the picture clarity is fairly decent. It's not the best looking DVD I've ever seen, but it does its job.

Extras: The version I recieved for review only contained a trailer and previews for other First Look releases. That seems to be the "norm" on their DVD's so I wouldn't expect anything else.