10 Horror Movie Musicals You Simply Have To See

Tim Burton had previously dabbled in musicals, primarily animated ones. But his unique vision for the iconic Sondheim musical was deliciously gothic, broodingly intense and soaked in blood.

Telling the tale of the murderous barber Sweeney Todd, and his Hannibal Lecter-esque sidekick Mrs Lovett, this Victorian musical is incredibly dark. People are put into pies, a woman is locked in an asylum for refusing to marry her perverted patron, and people get a much closer shave than they had bargained for.

Sondheim himself was impressed by the film, despite not being a big fan of film adaptions of his works, which is a testament to the quality of the film. Burton’s regular cast do a stellar job of portraying these despicable characters with equal parts nastiness and humanity – however it is the late Sir Alan Rickman who puts in the best performance. As the truly vile Judge Turpin, Rickman brings a menacing grace to a role that could have easily been a simple moustache-twirling villain.

And, for horror hounds wondering what this movie has for them, there is enough blood to make even Eli Roth turn up his nose a little.