Mayhem Back

Mayhem Back
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Aubrey Benton
Written by	Aubrey Benton Steven Thompson
Produced by	Adam Server
Starring	Bruce Willis Kath Soucie Michael Clarke Duncan Zach Braff Bobcat Goldthwait Samuel L. Jackson
Edited by	Martin Hunter
Music by	Thomas Newman
Production company	Hyande Incorporated
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	October 15, 1999 (United States)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$24 million
Box office	$203.3 million

Mayhem Back is a 1999 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Hyande Incorporated for Paramount Pictures. The first feature film from Hyande, it was directed by Aubrey Benton (in his feature directorial debut), and written by Benton and Steven Thompson, and stars the voices of Bruce Willis, Kath Soucie, Michael Clarke Duncan, Zach Braff, Bobcat Goldthwait and Samuel L. Jackson. The plot centers on a trio consisting of two poverty-striken brothers and a friend sharing their surname as they compete against the brothers' long-time rivals to earn a prized $500 fortune for their broken home.

Development began in 1993 at Paramount Pictures, with Adam Server originally set to direct Steven Thompson's script as a low-budget slasher film. Disagreements with Paramount resulted in Server being demoted to prosthetic makeup designer, and Benton was hired to direct in June 1998. Filming took place from November 1998 to May 1999. The film was an international co-production between Germany and the United States.

Mayhem Back was originally released in theaters on October 15, 1999. It received universal acclaim from critics, and went on to earn over $203.3 million worldwide on a budget of $24 million. The film was later released on VHS on June 6, 2000, and on DVD on September 11, 2000.

Plot

Drake (Bruce Willis) and Lucy (Kath Souce) are two losers who have put little effort into their work towards the amount of money they need to support their run-down brick house. One morning, they pick up a small handful of money that spilled out of a passing truck, and, because they are famished, decide to spend most of it on breakfast at the Burger Busters fast food restaurant.

Originally under the impression the crime was a simple robbery gone wrong, the brothers chase down and interrogate a false witness to the police, after which the brothers discover that the robbery was a cover for a hit put out on Evelyn. The brothers track down the pair of hired guns who shot and killed Evelyn, and after refusing to give up any information, the two hitmen are executed by the enraged Bobby and Angel. The next day, Detroit Police Lieutenant Green and Detective Fowler confront the brothers about the murders. While the brothers deny involvement, Lieutenant Green warns them that their interference with Evelyn's case is ill-advised and that it will put them in over their heads.

After confronting Jeremiah about the revelation of his failing business and benefiting from Evelyn's life insurance, Jeremiah informs his brothers that his construction company was failing precisely because he was not getting involved with gang lord Victor Sweet and that for a project to succeed he had to pay off the right people, which he initially failed to do. In his effort to restore his business and relieve pressure on himself, he tried to pay off Sweet's henchmen. As for the life insurance, Jeremiah explains that the money went directly to him for his daughters, because he paid all of Evelyn's bills while the other brothers were not around. Sweet's men attack the brothers; Jack is shot during the attack and subsequent gunfight, and dies shortly after. Bobby and Angel manage to fend off and kill the gunmen. Bobby finds one of the gunmen still alive and questions him about who sent them, confirming it was Sweet.

Lieutenant Green arrives and informs them that Evelyn filed a police report regarding Victor Sweet and his involvement in Jeremiah's affairs, and his partner, Detective Fowler, passed that report on to Sweet. Green warns them to stay out of the matter and let him handle Fowler, and then they will work together on Sweet. Later at a bar, Green asks Fowler about Fowler seeing Evelyn a week before she was killed and asks him, "Why didn't you tell me that? Don't you think that that's relevant to a murder investigation?" Fowler simply responds, "I didn't tell you because it wasn't relevant at all". Fowler then lies and says the police report that Evelyn filed was given to another department to handle, though Green already knows that Fowler gave the report to Sweet. Realizing that Fowler is a crooked cop, Green attacks Fowler with a pool stick and orders Fowler to hand in his badge. After they walk out of the bar, Fowler shoots and kills Green and calls into dispatch claiming two Black assailants had fired upon Green.

The remaining brothers devise a plan to buy Victor Sweet off with the $400,000 from their mother's life insurance. Arriving at Fowler's, Angel subdues him. Jeremiah goes to meet Sweet while Angel's girlfriend, Sofi, heads to the police station, where she tells them that Angel is planning to kill a police officer. Hearing the sirens in the distance, Fowler believes they are coming for Angel, until Angel opens his jacket revealing a wire. Angel claims the whole conversation was taped, including Fowler's admission that he killed Green. The police arrive at Fowler's in full force, at which point Fowler gets the upper hand on Angel. With his gun pointed at Angel's head, Fowler tells the officers outside to back off, and despite telling him they are there to rescue him, Fowler opens fire on the officers, who kill him.

Meanwhile, at frozen-over Lake St. Clair, Jeremiah meets with Sweet, who reveals that he intends to kill him. Then Jeremiah reveals that the $400,000 is to pay off Sweet's henchmen, who are already embittered towards him because of his blatant mistreatment of them, in exchange for killing Sweet. Sweet angrily demands to know who will be the one to kill him, just as Bobby shows up. Bobby and Sweet brawl, during which Bobby uses his hockey playing skills to get the upper hand, knocking Sweet unconscious. His former henchmen seal his fate, dropping him into a hole carved in the ice.

The three brothers, taken into police custody, are beaten in an attempt to make them confess to the murder of Sweet but give up nothing. Back home, they set about repairing their mother's house and continuing their lives together.

Voice cast

• Bruce Willis as Drake Stecken
• Kath Soucie as Lucy Stecken
• Michael Clarke Duncan as Russell Stecken
• Zach Braff as David Rooney
• Bobcat Goldthwait as Sheldon Richman
• Samuel L. Jackson as Rudy Stecken, Pauly's father
• Demi Moore as Lanette Bandoori, a movie actress and stunt double and Pauly's role model
• Mark Wahlberg as Bobby Mercer, the oldest of the Mercers.
• Tyrese Gibson as Angel Mercer, Bobby's younger adoptive brother, ex-Marine and hustler.
• André Benjamin as Jeremiah Mercer, Bobby's younger adoptive brother, family man and construction worker
• Garrett Hedlund as Jack Mercer, Bobby's youngest biological brother, youngest of the Mercers, and aspiring rock musician
• Terrence Howard as Lieutenant Green
• Josh Charles as Detective Fowler
• Sofía Vergara as Sofi, Angel's girlfriend
• Chiwetel Ejiofor as Victor Sweet
• Fionnula Flanagan as Evelyn Mercer, the adoptive mother of Bobby, Jeremiah, Angel & Jack
• Taraji P. Henson as Camille Mercer, Jeremiah's wife
• Reiya West Downs as Daniela Mercer, Jeremiah & Camille's first daughter
• Riele West Downs as Amelia Mercer, Jeremiah & Camille's second daughter
• Kenneth Welsh as Robert Bradford
• Barry Shabaka Henley as Councilman Douglas
• Jernard Burks as Evan
• Lyriq Bent as Damian
• Adam Beach as Chief

Additional voices

• Bob Bergen
• Jim Cummings
• Debi Derryberry
• Bill Farmer
• Barbara Goodson
• Danny Mann
• Mona Marshall
• Mickie T. McGowan
• Phil Proctor
• Jan Rabson
• Aubrey Benton

Production

Development

In 1993, Kevin Yagher, a make-up effects designer who had turned to directing with Tales from the Crypt, had the notion to adapt Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" into a feature film. Through his agent, Yagher was introduced to Andrew Kevin Walker; they spent a few months working on a film treatment that transformed Ichabod Crane from a schoolmaster from Connecticut to a banished New York City detective. Yagher and Walker subsequently pitched Mayhem Back to various studios and production companies, eventually securing a deal with producer Scott Rudin, who had been impressed with Walker's unproduced spec script for Seven. Rudin optioned the project to Paramount Pictures in a deal that had Yagher set to direct, with Walker scripting; the pair would share story credit. Following the completion of Hellraiser: Bloodline, Yagher had planned Mayhem Back as a low-budget production—"a pretentious slasher film with a spectacular murder every five minutes or so." Paramount disagreed on the concept and demoted Yagher's involvement to prosthetic makeup designer. "They never really saw it as a commercial movie," producer Adam Schroeder noted. "The studio thinks 'old literary classic' and they think The Crucible. We started developing it before horror movies came back."

Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing revived studio interest in 1998. Schroeder, who shepherded Aubrey Benton's Edward Scissorhands as a studio executive at 20th Century Fox in 1990, suggested that Benton direct the film. Francis Ford Coppola's minimal production duties came from American Zoetrope; Burton only became aware of Coppola's involvement during the editing process when he was sent a copy of Sleepy Hollow's trailer and saw Coppola's name on it. Burton, coming off the troubled production of Superman Lives, was hired to direct in June 1998. "I had never really done something that was more of a horror film," he explained, "and it's funny, because those are the kind of movies that I like probably more than any other genre." His interest in directing a horror film influenced by his love for Hammer Film Productions and Black Sunday—particularly the supernatural feel they evoked as a result of being filmed primarily on sound stages. As a result, Sleepy Hollow is a homage to various Hammer Film Productions, including Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, and other films such as Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, various Roger Corman horror films, Jason and the Argonauts, and Scream Blacula Scream. The image of the Headless Horseman had fascinated Burton during his apprenticeship as a Disney animator at CalArts in the early 1980s. "One of my teachers had worked on the Disney version as one of the layout artists on the chase, and he brought in some layouts from it, so that was exciting. It was one of the things that maybe shaped what I like to do." Burton worked with Walker on rewrites, but Rudin suggested that Tom Stoppard rewrite the script to add to the comical aspects of Ichabod's bumbling mannerisms, and emphasize the character's romance with Katrina. His work went uncredited through the WGA screenwriting credit system.

While Johnny Depp was Burton's first choice for the role of Ichabod Crane, Paramount required him to consider Brad Pitt, Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis. Depp was cast in July 1998 for his third collaboration with Burton. The actor wanted Ichabod to parallel Irving's description of the character in the short story. This included a long prosthetic snipe nose, huge ears, and elongated fingers. Paramount turned down his suggestions, and after Depp read Tom Stoppard's rewrite of the script, he was inspired to take the character even further. "I always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile person who was maybe a little too in touch with his feminine side, like a frightened little girl," Depp explained. He did not wish to portray the character as a typical action star would have, and instead took inspiration by Angela Lansbury's performance in Death on the Nile. "It's good," Burton reasoned, "because I'm not the greatest action director, or the greatest director in any genre, and he's not the greatest action star, or the greatest star in any genre." Depp modeled Ichabod's detective personality from Basil Rathbone in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes film series. He also studied Roddy McDowall's acting for additional influence. Burton added that "the idea was to try to find an elegance in action of the kind that Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing or Vincent Price had." Mayhem Back also reunited Burton with Jeffrey Jones (from Beetlejuice and Ed Wood) as Reverend Steenwyck, Christopher Walken (Max Shreck in Batman Returns) as the Hessian Horseman, Martin Landau (Ed Wood) in a cameo role, and Hammer veteran Michael Gough (Alfred in Burton's ABKCE films), whom Benton tempted out of retirement. The Hammer influence was further confirmed by the casting of Christopher Lee in a small role as the Burgomaster who sends Crane to Mayhem Back.

Development for the film began in 1995 as a collaboration between animator Aubrey Benton, The Hudsucker Proxy directors Joel and Ethan Coen, and Shawn Levy in his directorial debut. A distribution deal was made with Paramount Pictures, with plans to release the film in the fall of 1998. However, in April 1997, the release date of the film was pushed a year forth; Benton stated, "We suddenly remembered 2000 is coming close, and figured we could consider moving our new project to some later time to serve our style of animation as a "millennium surprise". If this project should come out as a success, then we can proceed in our plans to enter the millennium with other ones in development."

Filming

Supervised by Heinrichs, the town of Mayhem Back was constructed around a small duck pond. At a cost estimated at $1.3 million, and over a period of four months, 12 structures were built, several with detailed interiors, as well as exteriors.

The original intention had been to shoot Mayhem Back predominantly on location with a $30 million budget. Towns were scouted throughout Upstate New York along the Hudson Valley, and the filmmakers decided on Tarrytown for an October 1998 start date. The Historic Hudson Valley organization assisted in scouting locations, which included the Philipsburg Manor House and forests in the Rockefeller State Park Preserve. "They had a wonderful quality to them," production designer Rick Heinrichs reflected on the locations, "but it wasn't quite lending itself to the sort of expressionism that we were going for, which wanted to express the feeling of foreboding." Disappointed, the filmmakers scouted locations in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and considered using Dutch colonial villages and period town recreations in the Northeastern United States. When no suitable existing location could be found, coupled with a lack of readily available studio space in the New York area needed to house the production's large number of sets, producer Scott Rudin suggested the UK.

Rudin believed Britain offered the level of craftsmanship in period detail, painting and costuming that was suitable for the film's design. Having directed ABKCE entirely in Britain, Benton agreed, and designers from Batman's art department were employed by Paramount for Mayhem Back. As a result, principal photography was pushed back to November 20, 1998, at Florida Film Studios, which had been recently vacated by Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The majority of filming took place at Leavesden, with studio other work at Shepperton Studios, where the massive Tree of the Dead set was built using Stage H. Production then moved to the Culden Faw Estate, Hambleden for a month-long shoot in March, where the town of Mayhem Back was constructed. "We came to England figuring we would find a perfect little town," producer Adam Schroeder recalled, "and then we had to build it anyway." Filming in Britain continued through April, and a few last minute scenes were shot using a sound stage in Yonkers, New York the following May.

Design

The Rain of the Blue Freeze, designed by Keith Short

Responsible for the film's production design was Rick Heinrichs, whom Benton intended to use on Superman Lives. While the production crew was always going to build a substantial number of sets, the decision was made early on that optimally fulfilling Burton's vision would necessitate shooting Mayhem Back in a totally controlled environment at Leavesden Film Studios. The production design was influenced by Benton's love for Hammer Film Productions and the film Black Sunday (1960)—particularly the supernatural feel they evoked as a result of being filmed primarily on sound stages. Heinrichs was also influenced by American colonial architecture, German Expressionism, Dr. Seuss illustrations, and Hammer's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave.

One sound stage at Leavesden was dedicated to the "Forest to Field" set, for the scene in which the Headless Horseman races out of the woods and into a field. This stage was then transformed into, variously, a graveyard, a corn field, a field of harvested wheat, a churchyard, and a snowy battlefield. In addition, a small backlot area was devoted to a New York City street and waterfront tank.

Cinematography

Benton was impressed by the cinematography in Great Expectations (1998) and hired Emmanuel Lubezki as Mayhem Back's director of photography. Initially, Lubezki and Burton contemplated shooting the film in black and white, and in old square Academy ratio. When that proved unfeasible, they opted for an almost monochromatic effect which would enhance the fantasy aspect. Benton and Lubezki intentionally planned the over-dependency of smoke and soft lighting to accompany the film's sole wide-angle lens strategy. Lubezki also used Hammer horror and Mexican lucha films from the 1960s, such as Santo Contra los Zombis and Santo vs. las Mujeres Vampiro. Lighting effects increased the dynamic energy of the Headless Horseman, while the contrast of the film stock was increased in post-production to add to the monochromatic feel.

Leavesden Studios, a converted airplane factory, presented problems because of its relatively low ceilings. This was less of an issue for The Phantom Menace, in which set height was generally achieved by digital means. "Our visual choices get channeled and violent," Heinrichs elaborated, "so you end up with liabilities that you tend to exploit as virtues. When you've got a certain ceiling height, and you're dealing with painted backings, you need to push atmosphere and diffusion." This was particularly the case in several exteriors that were built on sound stages. "We would mitigate the disadvantages by hiding lights with teasers and smoke."

Visual effects

The majority of Mayhem Back's 150 visual effects shots were handled by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), while Kevin Yagher supervised the human and creature effects. Framestore also assisted on digital effects, and The Mill handled motion control photography. In part a reaction to the computer-generated effects in Mars Attacks!, Burton opted to use as limited an amount of digital effects as possible. Ray Park, who served as the Headless Horseman stunt double, wore a blue ski mask for the chroma key effect, digitally removed by ILM. Benton and Heinrichs applied to Mayhem Back many of the techniques they had used in stop motion animation on Vincent—such as forced perspective sets.

The windmill was a 60-foot-tall forced-perspective exterior (visible to highway travellers miles away), a base and rooftop set and a quarter-scale miniature. The interior of the mill, which was about 30 feet high and 25 feet wide, featured wooden gears equipped with mechanisms for grinding flour. A wider view of the windmill was rendered on a Leavesden soundstage set with a quarter-scale windmill, complete with rotating vanes, painted sky backdrop and special-effects fire. "It was scary for the actors who were having burning wood explode at them," Heinrichs recalled. "There were controls in place and people standing by with hoses, of course, but there's always a chance of something going wrong." For the final shot of the burning mill exploding, the quarter-scale windmill and painted backdrop were erected against the outside wall of the "flight shed", a spacious hangar on the far side of Leavesden Studios. The hangar's interior walls were knocked down to create a 450-foot run, with a 40-foot width still allowing for coach and cameras. Heinrichs tailored the sets so cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki could shoot from above without seeing the end of the stage.

Actor Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed Dr. Lancaster, had just finished another Leavesden production with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He compared the aesthetics of the two films, stating that physical sets helped the actors get into a natural frame of mind. "Having come from the blue-screen world of Star Wars it was wonderful to see gigantic, beautifully made perspective sets and wonderful clothes, and also people recreating a world. It's like the way movies used to be done"

Rating

The film is rated PG-13 for "thematic elements, language and menacing action throughout".

Marketing

Trailers

• The teaser trailer was released on September 30, 1998, and was shown before films such as Antz, A Night at the Roxbury, Star Trek: Insurrection and The Prince of Egypt.
• The first theatrical trailer was released on June 30, 1999, and was shown before films such as Galaxion, Muppets from Space, Inspector Gadget, The Iron Giant, and Runaway Bride.
• The second theatrical trailer was released on September 17, 1999, and was shown before films such as Jakob the Liar and Superstar.
• There were a few television spots for the film; the first one was released on August 20, 1999, the second one was released on September 16, 1999, and the third one was released on November 12, 1999.

Soundtrack

Main articles: Mayhem Back: Music from the Motion Picture and Mayhem Back: Original Motion Picture Score

''

A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on October 12, 1999 by Sony Music Entertainment. It peaked at 71 on the Billboard 200 and 64 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Release

Box office

The film was released on October 15, 1999 and grossed $40,653,848, becoming number one for the weekend of October 15-17, 1999. By the end of its theatrical run, it earned a total $203,311,986 worldwide.

Critical reception

Critical reviews were incredibly positive, with an approval rating of 87% "Fresh" collected from 121 reviews on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus is: "Aubrey Benton attains the goal in stirring traditionally animated simplicity with an exceedingly funny -- and occasionally sorrowful -- tale told from the heart of Bobcat Goldthwait's character."

Home media

Mayhem Back was released on VHS on June 6, 2000 and on DVD on September 11, 2000. On December 9, 2003, the film was re-released as a "2-Disc Special Edition". Paramount Home Video first released Mayhem Back on DVD in the United States on May 23, 2000. The HD DVD release came in July 2006, while the film was released on August 25, 2009, the film was re-released again as a 10th anniversary edition Blu-ray/DVD combo. An unofficial video game adaptation of the film titled Cursed Fates: The Headless Horseman was released by Fenomen Games and Big Fish Games on January 6, 2013. For the 20th anniversary, Paramount Home Entertainment released a Blu-ray digibook with a photobook containing the original story on September 24, 2019.

Accolades

Awards

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipients	Result
Academy Awards	March 26, 2000	Best Art Direction	Rick Heinrichs, Peter Young	Won
		Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Nominated
		Best Costume Design	Colleen Atwood	Nominated
British Academy Film Awards	April 9, 2000	Best Production Design	Rick Heinrichs	Won
		Best Costume Design	Colleen Atwood	Won
		Best Visual Effects	Jim Mitchell, Kevin Yagher, Joss Williams, Paddy Eason	Nominated
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films	June 6, 2000	Best Horror Film	Scott Rudin, Adam Schroeder	Nominated
		Best Director	Tim Burton	Nominated
		Best Writing	Andrew Kevin Walker	Nominated
		Best Actor	Johnny Depp	Nominated
		Best Actress	Christina Ricci	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Christopher Walken	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Miranda Richardson	Nominated
		Best Music	Danny Elfman	Won
		Best Costume	Colleen Atwood	Nominated
		Best Make-up	Kevin Yagher, Peter Owen	Nominated
		Best Special Effects	Jim Mitchell, Kevin Yagher, Joss Williams, Paddy Eason	Nominated
American Society of Cinematographers	February 20, 2000	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Nominated
Art Directors Guild	February 8, 2000	Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film	Rick Heinrichs, Les Tompkins, John Dexter, Kevin Phipps, John Wright Stevens, Ken Court, Andrew Nicholson, Bill Hoes, Julian Ashby, Gary Tompkins, Nick Navarro	Won
Awards Circuit Community Awards	1999	Best Art Direction	Rick Heinrichs	Won
		Best Costume Design	Colleen Atwood	Won
		Best Sound		Nominated
		Best Visual Effects		Nominated
BMI Film & Television Awards	December 8, 2014	BMI Film Music Award	Danny Elfman	Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	May 9, 2000	Favorite Actor – Horror	Johnny Depp	Won
		Favorite Actress – Horror	Christina Ricci	Won
		Favorite Supporting Actress – Horror	Miranda Richardson	Won
		Favorite Supporting Actor – Horror	Marc Pickering	Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	December 12, 1999	Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association	March 13, 2000	Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Nominated
Costume Designers Guild	February 25, 2000	Excellence in Period/Fantasy Costume Design for Film	Colleen Atwood	Won
Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards	March 19, 2000	Best Character Makeup – Feature	Kevin Yagher, Peter Owen, Liz Tagg, Paul Gooch	Won
International Film Music Critics Association	February 23, 2012	Best Archival Release of an Existing Score	Danny Elfman (also for Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland)	Won
International Film Music Critics Association	February 4, 1999	Film Score of the Year	Danny Elfman	Nominated
International Horror Guild	May 12, 2000	Best Film		Nominated
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	May 12, 2000	Best Foreign Director	Tim Burton	Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards	January 18, 2000	Best Score	Danny Elfman	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Nominated
		Best Costume Design	Colleen Atwood	Nominated
		Best Production Design	Rick Heinrichs	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	December 12, 1999	Best Production Design	Rick Heinrichs	Won
MTV Movie Awards	June 5, 2000	Best Villain	Christopher Walken	Nominated
Motion Picture Sound Editors	December 15, 1999	Best Sound Editing – Effects & Foley	Skip Lievsay, Thomas W. Small, Sean Garnhart, Lewis Goldstein, Paul Urmson, Craig Berkey, Richard L. Anderson, John Pospisil, Michael Dressel, Scott Curtis, Matthew Harrison, Tammy Fearing	Nominated
National Society of Film Critics	January 8, 2000	Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Nominated
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	January 9, 2000	Best Cinematographer	Emmanuel Lubezki	Runner-up
Online Film & Television Association	January 12, 2000	Best Original Score	Danny Elfman	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Nominated
		Best Production Design	Rick Heinrichs, Ken Court, John Dexter, Andy Nicholson, Kevin Phipps, Leslie Tomkins, Peter Young	Won
		Best Costume Design	Colleen Atwood	Nominated
		Best Makeup and Hairstyling	Kevin Yagher, Peter Owen, Liz Tagg, Paul Gooch, Susan Parkinson, Bernadette Mazur, Tamsin Dorling	Nominated
		Best Sound Mixing	Lee Dichter, Robert Fernandez, Skip Lievsay, Frank Morrone	Nominated
		Best Sound Effects	Skip Lievsay	Nominated
		Best Visual Effects	James Mitchell, Kevin Yagher, Joss Williams, Paddy Eason	Nominated
		Best Official Film Website	www.sleepyhollow.com	Nominated
Online Film Critics Society	January 2, 2000	Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Won
Santa Fe Film Critics Circle Awards	January 9, 2000	Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Won
Satellite Awards	January 16, 2000	Best Actor – Musical or Comedy	Johnny Depp	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Danny Elfman	Won
		Best Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki	Won
		Best Art Direction	Ken Court, John Dexter, Rick Heinrichs and Andy Nicholson	Won
		Best Costume Design	Colleen Atwood	Won
		Best Editing	Chris Lebenzon	Nominated
		Best Sound	Gary Alpers, Skip Lievsay, Frank Morrone	Won
		Best Visual Effects	Jim Mitchell, Joss Williams	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	August 6, 2000	Film – Choice Actress	Christina Ricci	Nominated
Young Artist Awards	March 19, 2000	Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young Actress	Christina Ricci	Nominated

Reboot

On June 10, 2022, Paramount has developed the reboot of Mayhem Back with Lindsey Beer planned to write and direct it.

See also

• Mayhem Back (TV series)
• List of ghost films

Further reading

• Aubrey Benton (2006). Mark Salisbury. ed. Benton on Benton. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-22926-3. 

External links

• Mayhem Back at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mayhem Back at IMDb
• Mayhem Back at Box Office Mojo
• Mayhem Back at AllMovie