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.