Sweeney Todd

1936

1h 6m

Horror

List

Tomatometer

4 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

London barber Sweeney Todd (Tod Slaughter) provides the bakeshop next door with grisly makings for meat pies.

MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

There are several inconsistencies in the development of the plot, but a certain amount of the necessarily gruesome atmosphere has been caught and the story itself is so good that the film has some success.

Mar 4, 2019

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Steve Biodrowski

Cinefantastique

All of [the creaky storytelling] fades to nothing but dim shadows, eclipsed by the glorious villainy of Todd Slaughter.

Jul 23, 2008

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Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

It's, well, a cut above most other musicals.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 9, 2008

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Terrific Tod Slaughter barnstormer. Not his best, but his most famous.

Rated: 4/5

May 5, 2004

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Teddy B

Tod Slaughter is highly entertaining as a singularly depraved Sweeney Todd and Stella Rho is effective enough as Mrs. Lovett, but the film's story feels vastly incomplete without the iconic musical components. Many elements of the story could be removed altogether, and it would give more focus to the entertaining bits (everything with sailing/ships and the poorly aged African scenes, almost all of Johanna's scenes with her maid etc.) That remains unusual though because it is shockingly short at only barely past an hour.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/16/24

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Jens B

Oh well.. I love Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and I love creepy old horror junk, but I couldn't find anything noteworthy besides Slaughter's performance in this one as a cartoon villain. It's dull, surprisingly racist (Why was that scene in there?!), boring, and unintentionally funny. And while I usually enjoy this kind of stuff, I just couldn't connect with this iteration of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/05/23

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Audience Member

Of interest mainly as a record of Tod Slaughter's cackling villain, all subtlety eschewed as he 'polishes off' anyone who happens to cross his path. Anyone expecting Chris Bond or Stephen Sondheim's multi-layered tragic comedy will be hugely disappointed. Not much actual throat slitting or human pies: just a revolving barber's chair and a lot of playing to the back row by Slaughter.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

not bad version of this

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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andy f

Tod Slaughter is one again mesmerising this time as The Demon Barber. Lots of menace, humour and a good cast makes this first film adaptation of the famous story a memorable one.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

This is an annoying movie.. I understand that it's older, but I just hate how clean it is! Sweeney Todd is a sad excuse of a villan, I hate all the characters, just don't watch it, it's stupid

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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George King

Director

Tod Slaughter

Sweeney Todd

Eve Lister

Johanna

Bruce Seton

Mark

Stella Rho

Mrs. Lovatt

Graham Soutten

Beadle

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First "Indy 4" Image of Harrison Ford Released

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Synopsis

London barber Sweeney Todd (Tod Slaughter) provides the bakeshop next door with grisly makings for meat pies.

Director: George King
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 7, 2015
Runtime: 1h 6m

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