3) Sleepy Hollow
Despite his gothic sensibilities, Tim Burton doesn’t really do proper full-on horror films. Except, that is, 1998’s Sleepy Hollow, an adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic ghost story.
When we say horror, this isn’t a modern slasher, but rather a pitch-perfect throwback to the bygone age of Hammer horror, complete with a small country village stalked by a creature of the night and buckets of technicolour red blood. Burton’s cinematography is at its most gorgeous here (you’ll never see such beautiful beheadings again) and the, well, sleepy autumnal town of Sleepy Hollow makes for a terrific setting.
Depp is great value here, too, as a forward-thinking, if cowardly, detective while Christopher Walken as the Headless Horseman makes for a chilling monster. Overall, this is an often underrated effort from the director.