10 Horror Movies That Turned Out Nothing Like You Were Promised

7. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

"A goddamn musical?!?!"

That was the response of the vast majority of people who flocked to cinemas to watch Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street back in 2007.

Somewhat bizarrely, this Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter-headlined spin on Sweeney Todd didn't let anyone know it was a musical. Sure, Stephen Sondheim had turned this tale into a full musical stage production in 1979, but Burton's movie was positioned as a standard gothic horror affair rather than a musical gothic horror affair.

The trailers for the film promised a stylish, charming horror full of the usual Burton touches, with only one brief semblance of song uttered by Depp's titular Todd. By playing down the fact this picture was a musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street received a significant backlash upon its release.

Critics lambasted the movie for how it didn't market itself as a song 'n' dance offering, whilst there were plentiful reports at the time of paying customers walking out of the cinema upon realising exactly what they'd forked out to see.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 2nd Dec 2021

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