 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
The London-piers, mid 1800's: Sweeney Todd (Tod Slaughter) is an incredibly
greedy barber who doesn't mind which way he makes a guinee or two, be it taking
up orphans as state-sponsored apprentices, then conveniently doing away with
them, or robbing & murdering rich customers. With his money, he wants to
buy himself into Oakley's (D.J.Williams) shipping company, not only for the
prospected earnings but also because he is madly in love with Oakley's daughter
Joanna (Eve Lister), trying to win her over with his wealth, while she is in
love with simple sailor Mark (Bruce Seton), who is presently on a trip around
Africa, & detested by Joanna's father for his poverty in the first place.
Sweeney's only partner in crime is Mrs Lovatt (Stella Rho), who runs a
bakery next door & recycles the victims of Sweeney's lootings as meat pie.
But while Oakley runs out of money over a new ship he has built for the
ccompany, & Sweeney sees a chance to tighten the stranglehold over the
Oakley-family, Mark has come to unexpected riches when helping Trader Paterson
(Aubrey Mallalieu) against a native uprising, & not only that, when his
captain dies in the same uprising he is called the captain's successor. Sweeney
has heard about Mark's newfound wealth though, & when he returns to England
he persuades him to take a shave - only to at a convenient let him fall down a
trap door. Mrs Lovatt though - who is ssecretly in love with Sweeney - sees
through his plot to get rid of his competition for Joanna's hand & helps
Mark escape.
With his shipmates, Mark then devices a plan to end Sweeney's business once
& for all by entering his barbershop in disguise & trya to destroy the
crimenest from the inside- Though not all that much comes of their plan. Joanna
meanwhile, informed by Sweeney's latest apprentice Tobias (John Singer) has
decided to enter Sweeney's shop too, disguised as a boy whio seeks
apprenticeship - unfortunately at the least convenient moment, as Sweeney &
Mrs Lovatt just had a fight during which he killed her & now he wants to
burn down both his & her shop - & if his new apprentice dies in the
fire too, all the better.
Fortunately though, Mark arrives just in time to save Joanna from the fire,
& Sweeney, stupid enough to put up a fight with Mark with the building
around him aflame, ends in his own burning shop.
In the 1930's, Tod Slaughter was a popular British folk-actor - both on
stage & in the movies - whose speciality were pulpy, sensationalist tales
in the Grand Guignol-vein, with him as the overactring, eye-rolling villain,
& the role of Sweeney Todd - which was based on facts that formed the basis
for George Dibdin-Pitt's play from the mid-1800's was one of his most popular
roles & at the same time a perfect example for the roles he played, that of
the ruthless, loud-voiced, stage-domineering bad guy. When the movie was made,
Slaughter had already played the role for several years on stage, with great
success.
Tghe movie itself boasts little in directorial style (in fact looks in large
parts like a filmed stage play) & has only moderately convincing sets, but
manages to create a certain brooding atmosphere, & the outrageously ham
performance by Slaughter, while by no means convincing, is fun to watch
nevertheless.
review © by Mike Haberfelner
... and a second opinion by Dale Pierce ...
When you mention Sweeny Todd, most people would think of the highly popular
musical, which was of course, a major hit. "Attend the tale of Sweeny
Todd. He served a dark and a vengeanceful god ..." Most know how it goes....
Few, however, realize there was an earlier Sweeny Todd, without the music and
with a lot more grim atmosphere. In this vehicle the crazed barber is killing
for profit as opposed to the vindictive Todd of the musical, who seeks revenge
against a judge and a petty court officer for putting him in jail , then
having him transported to Australia (where he escapes from and returns to
England with murder in mind). This Todd, for what it is worth, is just plain,
good old fashioned nuts, a basket case, an asshole, whatever you want to call
him. And unlike in the musical that would come later, he offers no humorous
qualities, in spite of his willingess to cut throats..
Sweeny Todd is played by veteran villain, Tod Slaughter, who once again is at
his campiest and most hammy. Yet he pulls it off and makes his villain utterly
detestable. This man has got to be one of the most underrated screen bad guys
in history.
Sweeny Todd uses his barber shop as a place to lure in and kill people. Simple
enough. In the end, his greed and his madness are his undoing. A very cut and
dried plot. Shot long ago, the film faced censorship, dull camera angles, poor
lighting, bad dubbing and bad sets, yet Slaughter, as always makes the thing
work out.
|
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at adultvideouniverse.com
