Swing your razor high Sweeney

Last week I went to see a special preview of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" which is out in cinemas in the UK today.

Having seen a couple of productions of the stage show (some including my own friends, and another which was the touring version of the West End Production starring Jason Donovan of all people) I was looking forward to it to begin with.

I didn't realise it was an "18" certificate until I went in, I forgot about the amount of gore, blood and generally disgusting things that happen.

Unlike some musical-to-movie adaptations I have seen, I didn't miss any of the songs they had cut for the film version. And they have certainly sliced a few (the most notable being the haunting Ballad of Sweeney Todd which now appears in instrumental only), as well carefully trimming the rest of the libretto.

I'm sure some people in the audience were a bit surprised it was a musical, as certainly the trailers do a great job of disguising that fact. But why should they advertise it as a "musical"? Sweeney stands out as a great story on its own, and the great cast, direction and music now make it one of my favourite films.