The film follows a barber named Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), unfairly sentenced to hard labour in Australia after the corrupt and perverted Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) seizes his young wife. Now Barker has returned to London, now calling himself Sweeney Todd, and is bent on revenge. With the aid of Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) who owns a pie shop under Todd's flat (and claims to sell “the worst pies in London”), Todd sets himself up at his trade once more and prepares to exact his revenge.

Fusing dark humour, sinister performances and truly stunning art direction, “Sweeney Todd” is a cinematic tour de force, a gruesome delight from start to finish. Johnny Depp excels as the titular throat-slitting barber, playing a true “villain” for the first time and creating a sympathetic yet frightening character: driven, obsessive and brooding. His performance is all the more remarkable for his singing which might not be to the standard of the average West End show but is passionate and attractive enough to rise above the tempestuous score. The decision to cast good actors who could sing passably, rather than good singers who can act passably, is one of the film's strongest points, Helena Bonham Carter and Timothy Spall may not be the new faces of pop music but they are certainly familiar and respected faces on film! A pleasant surprise comes from Sacha Baron Cohen, better known to television fans as Ali G or Borat, as a charlatan barber and rival of Todd's, his singing voice is incredible along with his frankly hilarious accents, an added and unexpected treat. Aside from riveting performances from Depp, Bonham Carter and Rickman, the film also benefits from the incredible set designs, costumes and makeup that create the sinister world of Todd's London, painted across the silver screen in a sinister palette of grey, black and blood red. Using CGI to create some of the skyscapes and backgrounds, with coldly realistic foreground sets, the film is visually set for contrasts, a theme picked up in the costumes (Mrs Lovett's and Todd's wild hair, almost monochrome outfits and gothic pallor is contrasted with the more “natural” look of the young sailor Anthony Hope and Todd's estranged daughter Johanna) as well as the music and the plot of the film.

Being a musical, the storyline and the score are practically inseparable; discordant music often heralds a character's distress, but strangely not the murders themselves, which are disturbingly juxtaposed with surprisingly elegant and beautiful music. As for the murders, well let's say this is not a film for the squeamish. Gory title credits fade away into a misleading lull lasting almost half of the film, disturbed only by the tragic back-story of the title character, before finally exposing us to steadily increasing levels of blood and gore, culminating in a fittingly revolting and deeply tragic ending.

Admittedly part of the appeal of the film comes from the “isn't that cool” factor of seeing great actors like Depp and Rickman singing a duet together, and from finally seeing Depp play a villainous character, but thankfully its power extends far beyond that. With it's gothic setting and design, gruesome effects, haunting music and captivating performances, this is a piece not to be missed Highly recommended to anyone who can stomach both musicals and visceral horror!