Sweeney Todd is a musical!

That’s the big secret that the two and a half minute theatrical trailer don’t want you to know. The producers seem eager for you to see the latest dark and delight-filled slasher pick from Tim Burton, but hope you will not find out that Sweeney Todd is a musical… until you have purchased your ticket and popcorn.

You will discover all that music with the very first line of dialogue—ahh, lyrics—of the opening song. The music doesn’t stop for a long time, and then only briefly.

The best news about Sweeney Todd is that all the music and lyrics are the creation of a modern master, Stephen Sondheim, who created the Broadway musical upon which this film is based. Sweeney Todd is wall-to-wall music as this dark, haunting story is told through its songs—most of the dialogue is sung. And it is great music, ingenious lyrics, and soaring orchestrations.

And if the “R” rating did not give you a clue, the credit sequence drips with blood that flows through to the very end of the story.

The story is of a barber, falsely imprisoned so that Judge Turpin can take Sweeney’s beautiful wife and young daughter. Now, fifteen years hence, he returns to exact revenge on that Judge and a society that enables such judicial malfeasants. Once off the ship, Sweeney reconnects with his former landlady, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter). The room above her Fleet Street pie shop has sat empty since Sweeney went off to prison in Australia. Sweeney Todd tells us, “I will have vengeance, I will have salvation!” And so it goes, re-building his business by offering gentlemen of London town a shave, “The closest I ever gave.”

Sweeney Todd is one of director Tim Burton’s best. His sweeping camera movement accomplishes more choreography than his cast, which cannot even pull off a simple waltz during the joyous and darkly comedic “Have a Little Priest.” Burton’s editing is also listening to the beat. He takes advantage of flashbacks and dream sequences, most enjoyably with Mrs. Lovett’s musings, “By the Sea.” Here we are given a break from the dim aisles and alleyways of London to the bright and idyllic shoreline pier. It is a day of baby-blue skies and clouds as wispy as the breathy non-singing of Helena Bonham Carter.

She may be this biggest disappointment in this richly textured and fierce adaptation. When we first meet her, Mrs. Lovett is surprised to see “A customer!” This song is meant to launch her bawdy and brash character. But Bonham Carter, not so much. Her acting gets the seduction stuff right. Her nefarious collaboration with Sweeney in disposing of his cadaverous clientele has all the darkness required for horror. But her singing voice is weak and timid and it is our loss. As we saw with the screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago, Hollywood, too, is more concerned with box office quotients than B-flat quality.

Another mystery is, who did Tim Burton imagine would be the audience for this film? Obvious choices include: teenage girls in love with Johnny Depp, musical theatre devotees, and Tim Burton fans for whom Sweeney Todd could not possibly be too dark, too bloody, or too weird. It is all of that and more.

The thrills begin the moment Mrs. Lovett pulls Sweeny’s silver razors from their dusty grave beneath the floorboards. Sweeney sings, “These are my friends,” as he makes love to the sharp and glistening weapons. A collective chill runs up the spine of every seat in the house. All the while Mrs. Lovett imagines he is wooing her and joins in, “I’m you friend too, Mr. Todd.” But, he’s not listening—never does. She remains faithfully at his side, doting to the very end.

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