It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

Tim Burton brings Stephen Sondheim's musical prodigy to the big screen and as you'd expect he does a beautiful and atmospheric job of it. Both Depp and Carter revel in the opportunity given to them and the tale has a gloriously dark, gruesomely humourous tone, which brings me on to my own personal issues… the modern musical; much of the the of dialogue in Sweeney Todd is sung and there is just so much lilting 'mockney' cockney I can take. I can accept this is hugely entertaining film, it's just find out more...