cleoland wiki / Sweeney Todd

Black tragicomedy about Victorian serial murder and cannibalism. Oh, by the way, it's a musical --not that you would know it from the trailers. From news stories I read at the time, American audiences (who knew the musical) walked out when the blood started spurting, but British audiences (who apparently didn't) walked out when the actors started singing. Although I also remember a lot of American gorehounds being angry that they'd been "tricked" into seeing a musical.

Me, I knew from the start that it was a musical, although I had never (and still have not) heard any of the stage performances. They even staged Sweeney Todd at school back when I was at college, but I'd been busy at the time and hadn't gotten to see it, so when I saw the movie, I went in with my slate completely blank--the same as I did with Phantom of the Opera. (What can I say? The only musical I knew, indeed, even saw, growing up was Cats. Oh, wait--my mother also used to play songs from South Pacific on the piano. We were not a theater-going family.) So I went in knowing nothing but the general story outline (I did know the ending), and I loved it. I got the soundtrack, I got the DVD, and I have a (bad?) habit of singing "The Worst Pies in London" and/or "A Little Priest" while making breakfast.

Also--and if you know me, you'll know that this is the most crucial point--the costumes were fantastic.