I've never been a big fan of musicals, and I'm not particularly big on slasher flicks either. But I am a fan of both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's work, and it turns out they were the perfect match to make the long-rumored screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Broadway slasher musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Give extra credit to a superb supporting cast here, including Helena Bonham Carter as Todd's murdering accomplice Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman (who always plays a perfectly good shit) as the despicable Judge Turpin, and Sasha Baron Cohen (AKA Borat) as Todd's hapless first victim.

But the supporting actor who quietly steals the show here is Edward Sanders as the young, waifish (in an Oliver Twist sort of way) boy Toby. Everyone here tries their best to sing their parts — and I'll give Depp in particular his props for pulling it off somewhat convincingly. But Sanders really sings his heart out here, as the orphan kid whom the delightfully murderous Todd and Lovett take under their wing.

I knew I liked this kid the moment he told Mrs. Lovett to just leave the bottle of gin when she leaves the room. But in a couple of scenes he really tugs at your heartstrings too, so be prepared to pull out the ol' hanky.

The basic story is that after barber Benjamin Barker is framed and sent away for a crime he never committed (so that the evil judge could steal his wife), he comes back to seek revenge and reinvents himself as Sweeney Todd. He soon strikes up a partnership of convenience with Mrs. Lovett, who serves Todd's victims up as England's best meat pies to an unsuspecting clientele. Meanwhile, the judge's affections have moved on from Todd's former bride to his daughter, who is holed up in the judge's mansion like the classic damsel in distress.

While Todd is busy about his business slashing his customers in one very close shave after another (it's never really explained how this serial killing barber manages to get any repeat business), his daughter has attracted a young suitor named Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), who she plans to run off with. Meanwhile, Todd continues to amp up towards killing the judge by slicing and dicing away, and Mrs. Lovett just keeps those tasty meat pies a-coming. Yummy.