nekosensei Sweeney Todd is one of those horror stories so rich in possible variations that there's no really definitive version--even the Sondheim musical has been done in many styles and all of them memorable in their own ways. This one succeeds where many other Hammer homages has failed, by not only imitating the look and quotient of violence and low-cut gowns of classic Hammer but by taking the source material and running with it in a completely different direction than the ones you're expecting. Like the best of Hammer it's gripping, ingenious, very adult and leaves you with a queasy awareness of the world's nastiness.

richieandsam SWEENEY TODD.It's not bad.I have seen the Tim Burton version of this story and absolutely loved it. I am a massive Tim Burton fan, and in fact it is one of my favourite Tim Burton movies.This version of the story was made before Tim's version. It was made for TV apparently and stars Ray Winstone as Sweeney Todd.Ray is alright in this, but there are times where he is not very believable in this film. I like Ray, I think he has made some great films, but maybe this one was not for him. They could have found someone better to play Sweeney.There are some really great supporting cast in this film though... it has got Essie Davis playing Mrs Lovett. Essie does a great job. I felt sorry for her a lot of the time in the movie. It also has David Warner, Tom Hardy and David Bradley in it... David Warner is brilliant as always, Tom Hardy plays a detective really well and David Bradley plays Sweeney's father. David Bradley is great in this... but have you noticed how in every film he looks the same? Haha! He is always gonna be Filch to me. JThe effects were alright in most places, but there were a couple of times where I thought the blood looked too unrealistic. Way too thick, it looked like paint.There were quite a lot of changes in the story in this one compared to the Tim Burton version, but they are both similar also.I will give this movie 7 out of 10...I really enjoyed watching this movie and love the story... but it is not Ray's best work.For more reviews please like my Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204

lastliberal I loved the story of Sweeney Todd after seeing Johnny Depp do the musical number. I loved it so much I am looking for other versions. This one is outstanding.Unlike Depp's version, this one with Ray Winstone (The Proposition, The Departed, Sexy Beast, Beowulf) is a truer picture of the dark and grimy London of the 18th Century. It is so bad, that you have to cover your nose with a handkerchief when you approach the beggars in the jail to give them a penny.Sweeney did not set out to kill anyone. He was visited in his barber shop by a jailer that brought back old memories. He killed him without thinking and each time got easier. He becomes attracted to a pie maker Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis - Charlotte's Web, Maggie from The Matrix sequels). In the course of that relationship, we are introduced to abortion, spousal abuse, and atheism. She is married at the time, but as barbers were also surgeons (without anesthesia, I might add) he dispatches her husband in the process of removing a stone.They become friends as he is unable to perform, and he sets her up in her own pie shop. She has a steady stream of lovers which he dispatched and presents to her as meat from his brother. She is clueless as to what is going on. This is a far different version than I have seen before and you are really hooked to see what is going to happen. There are some side stories involving a policeman, and Sweeney's father that really added to the mystery.Winstone and Davis were superb, as was David Warner as the local Magistrate.The only complaint I had was not really every seeing Mrs Lovett's pies. As Sweeney peeked in on her trysts, we just got to see the guy on top. They could have given us a little peek.This was slightly better than the Ben Kingsly version, but there are more to see, including another musical.

lost-in-limbo 18th century London is a rottenly decayed and scummy city that has a horrific secret. The stoutly quiet Sweeny Todd is a well renown barber of London. Supposedly the best, as customers come and go with nothing but high praise for his fluent skills. One day, he basically loses it after some childhood memory triggers a reaction to slit a customer's throat. He cuts up the body and chucks into the river. Then he goes on as if nothing as happened, but these sudden outbursts soon become a pattern. Mrs Lovett has caught his eye and they form a relationship, where he helps her start up a bakery shop near his shop. So now, Todd is providing her with the meat, unknown to her that they are his leftovers.Fact or fiction is the question of this horror figure? This legendary serial killer figure is the central attraction in this boldly inventive and refreshing British TV feature of the grisly exploits and humane reactions of Sweeny Todd. What could have been just another formulaic story, treads the very well because the thoughtfully encouraged script is brought to life by sensationally characterised performances and a richly atmospheric Victorian setting that reeks with an grimly morbid discharge. The ugliness and the earthly dour colours of it only enhances the cold nature and violently graphic carnage that awaits. It could have gone over board with its unpleasantness, but in the long run the killings do actually play second fiddle to the bustling characters and their complex inner goings. Largely Todd's past. These moments of violence are no more than short and precise bursts that maintain brute force in their confronting depictions.Giving more weight to the black and white premise are the actors themselves. Their textured performances would go on to help those harrowing examinations become truly stimulating and the ingeniously plotted story strikes up a provocative script (by Joshua St. Johnson), which they shape off and morph expertly. Streaming throughout is an claustrophobic build up in the film's hardboiled direction by David Moore and the tension he does orchestrate is plain nerve wrecking. Ray Winstone's scarred performance is emotionally powering and increasingly deep, despite his understated take of the character. He plays it humbly calm, but when the cracks appear Winstone does it with great integrity and menace. Essie Davis' upfront and igniting performance is nothing but excellent as the whore Mrs Lovett who desires any sort of companionship she can get. There seems to be a strong (and at times surreal) sexual charge between the two that's interestingly displayed. The compelling supporting cast do their jobs. David Warner is professionally solid in a strictly mild turn and Tom Hardy is sincerely perfect in his role as an up-and-coming police officer. The film is stylishly photographed and can become intrusively lingering when it wants to capture that scummy tenor with visual punch. The trance-like musical score is beautifully harmonious and demonstrates some otherworldly cues that only adds more to the brooding nature."Sweeny Todd" the director's cut is an exceptionally high quality TV presentation, which is meaningfully acted, unpredictably written and daringly directed. Highly recommended.