Sweeney Todd

For some reason, Hammer omitted Sweeney Todd from their Grand Guignol repertoire, but this cable version catches the flavour of the old firm, even down to the fiery climax. In opposition to Tod Slaughter's pre-war hiss-me-I'm-a-villain rendition, Ben Kingsley offers a rather gentle monster. In fact apart from the odd severed windpipe, the horror is limited to the camera's examination of Mrs Lovett's equivocal meat pies. Most successful is the design, especially the slimy passages and shadowy horror chambers beneath Fleet St. Joanna Lumley appears with blackened teeth and grimy drawers, but despite an itinerary which includes flagellation and cannibalism, that familiar mist of refinement obstinately refuses to disperse.