almost a10 rating, reason somewhere below

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2008)

Richard Zanuck produced this film, he is the son of the legendary Darryl F Zanuck who produced great musicals at 20th Century Fox. This was Richard's first musical.
Tim Burton directed,in his usual grand guignol style, that he is famous for.
This film is the film adaptation of Steven Sondheim's hit Broadway play,with a well written screenplay by John Logan.
The cast is all first rate & they use there own singing voices (for good or bad). Johnny Depp is pitch perfect as Sweeney Helen Bonham Carter was excellent as Mrs.Lovett Sascha Baron Cohen is wonderful as a rival barber. Ed Sanders as a 14 yr old lad who is crucial to the story. James Campbel Bower as the young lover. Jane Wisener as the required young love interest Timothy Spall as the Beadle--almost villainous. AND Alan Rickman as the dreaded villainous cruel judge
The sets are excellent &^ deserved its Oscar. The cinematography for most of film is a version of black & white. this fits perfectly with the dark mood of the film.
NOW for the reason of only a 9 rating. THE ENDING
Thw final climatic scenes are far too bloody, unnecessary & unneeded.
This is probably why it did not get more year end awards & did not do the business it should have & deserved.
Also even tho I liked the music & lyrics there was not one tune that could stand alone, this is a fault of many musicals.
Ratings ***1/2 (out of 4) 94 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (out of 10)