Sweeny Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street / Crimes [DVD] [1936] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

The Great Johnny Legend has presented two classic Tod Slaughter features, SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET and CRIMES AT THE DARK HOUSE. The first is a classic story that has its origin in a "penny dreadful"(or penny number, referring to 19th century British fiction publications, usually lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing a penny) entitled THE STRING OF PEARLS: A ROMANCE written by either James Malcom Rymer or Thomas Peckett Prest(the same two to whom was attributed VARNEY THE VAMPIRE; OR, THE FEAST OF BLOOD) and later dramatized into a play entitled THE STRING OF PEARLS by George Dibden Pitt. The second is based on the classic epistolary mystery novel by the famed author Wilkie Collins entitled THE WOMAN IN WHITE. SWEENEY TODD has been dramatized and filmed many times by such actors as G.A. Baughan(1926; lost film), Moore Marriott(1928; silent film), Tod Slaughter's version(1936), Mavor Moore(1947; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio play), John Miranda(1970; Andy Milligan's film BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS), Freddie Jones(1970; part of the MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION ITV T.V. Series), Barry Morse(1973; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation T.V. Series THE PURPLE PLAYHOUSE), Len Cariou, later replaced by George Hearn(1979-82; Stephen Sondheim & Hugh Wheeler's Muscial Thriller), Ben Kingsley(1998; British Sky Broadcasting T.V. Movie), Ray Winstone(2006; BBC Television Drama), Johnny Depp(2007; Tim Burton's Musical Film). Tod Slaughter gives the BEST performance out of all of these other versions, and I may be prejudiced, but no one could "polish off"(a term used in SWEENEY TODD to refer to both clean-shaving a client or slitting their throat!) a potential victim as Tod could, with his unctuous, leering, crocodilian-smiling manner, rubbing his hands together and chuckling most macabrely as he winks to the audience to come and join him in his devilish fun! Likewise in CRIMES AT THE DARK HOUSE, Tod completely dominates the story, even "polishing off" his cohort Count Fosco(played by Hay Petrie) in a twist from the story which has Count Fosco as the prime mover. Whether driving a spike into a sleeping prospector in Australia's ear and assuming his identity as the false Sir Percival Glyde, throttling lovely damsels or old beldams with "So You Wanted To Be A Bride, My Dear, I'll Make You A Bride, The Bride of Death!!!! Hah hah hah hah hah!!!!!" Tod is colpletely in his element, slitting throats for "fun & profit" as the redoubtable Sweeney Todd, terrorizing his young barber's assistant Tobias and supplying his henchwoman Mr. Lovatt(Stella Rho) with the "material"(i.e., human flesh from the corpses of the victims) to make her "delicious" meat pies!!!!! Nobody could upstage Tod, he is an unsung hero in the annals of cult and horror cinema who has been sadly neglected by fans and DVD companies alike! All we have had access to until now have been scratchy, jumpy, poor quality ZIV T.V. prints on such labels like Alpha Video, the cheapie outfit. Now, finally, with the auspices and hard work of the Great Johnny Legend, we can enjoy Tod's capers as they were meant to be seen, in beuatiful pristine prints which Mr. Legend has worked long and hard to acquire and present as a labor of love to Tod's fans everywhere. Tod Slaughter(Norman Carter Slaughter) may have been a HAM, but he was a SUCCULENT HAM of the FIRST WATER, right up there with Robert Newton(ARRRRRRRRR, MATEY!!!!!), Charles Laughton(THIS IS MUTINY, MR. CHRISTIAN!!!!!) and other cinematic greats. I, and others and only hope there will be more of Tod's films coming from Johnny Legend's skilled expertise, including THE CRIMES OF STEPHEN HAWKE, THE FACE AT THE WINDOW, THE TICKET OF LEAVE MAN, THE CURSE OF THE WRAYDONS, NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND, MARIA MARTEN OR THE MURDER IN THE RED BARN, etc. A FIVE-STAR product, I recommend it without reservations!

I had always avoided Todd Slaughter films due to the gruesome covers dripping in gore. Boy was I wrong! They are marvelous, very like Val Lewton films. Done with a tiny budget and unknown cast they more than hold their own. It's wonderful to see an accomplished actor like Todd do his stuff. The perfect melodrama villain, he plays with skill and panache. A different style from today but very much of it's time. We have only seen "But you must pay the rent!" hammy villains, Slaughter is the real deal. Sweeney Todd stays fairly faithful to the original story (which can be read on project gutenberg)and Crimes at the Dark House is a very good version of Wilkie Collins The Woman In White.
Thank you Johnny Legend for putting out these films of Slaughter with quality prints. I am collecting them all.

While "Sweeney Todd" is considered the definitive Slaughter film and is superior to the musicals I found "Crimes at the Dark House" to be even better. Both films are dominated by Slaughter, but the supporting casts do a fine job too. "Sweeney Todd" is a murdering barber who disposes of bodies with the help of his neighbor the piemaker. The film is fairly faithful to the book, though at times the subplot involving the young sailor slows down the fun and a modern day framing sequence with a barber narrating the story served was not needed at all. "Crimes at the Dark House" is loosely based on Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White" and is more enjoyable than the lengthy novel. Here Sir Percival Glyde is the villain and Count Fosco a secondary character with the background changed to make Glyde an imposter rather than illegitimate. The rest of the story remains the same, he marries for money, substitutes his wife for a dying madwoman she resembles in order to inherit, kills a blackmailer, and meets his end in a similar manner to the book. Slaughter's performances in both films is exactly what the roles required, Todd and Glyde are men without consciences and were played as the villains they were. Slaughter did not come off as outdated or excessively melodramatic, he came off as someone who know both what the parts required and what the audience wanted.