INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Four stars (R)

Tim Burton’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical is bold, blunt and extremely bloody. Johnny Depp is a man possessed as a barber with a sharp blade bent for murder, with Helena Bonham Carter helpfully making meat pies out of the victims and selling them to the locals. The songs are mesmerizing and the dark  production grabbed me and never let me go. 117 minutes. DVD INFO: Both a regular edition and a two-disc special edition are available. The latter includes a behind-the-scenes documentary, a press conference, a documentary on the real history of Sweeney Todd, Q&A with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, plus several featurettes.