'Sweeney Todd' (R)(out of four)

It's an unlikely film to be opening Christmas weekend, but "Sweeney Todd" isn't your ordinary movie. A combination of horror film and musical, there's no denying that this is director Tim Burton's best work yet.

With a shock of silver hair, an obsessed look in his eyes and sharp razors in hand, Johnny Depp sings his way through "Sweeney Todd." Yes, he sings, and does it bloody well, too. Depp is Benjamin Barker, a man who is sent to prison by a villainous judge. When he's released, he vows to get revenge as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Burton's real-life girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter, plays Todd's amorous accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, a London pie maker with a secret recipe and a longtime crush on Barker. Bonham Carter is a great yin to Depp's yang, and the two play off of each other's eccentricities delightfully.

By the way, it's not the first time "Sweeney Todd" has been a movie. The story has inspired a number of films, including a 1936 black and white film that starred a man appropriately named Tod Slaughter. In 1998, John Schlesinger directed a TV version of "The Tale of Sweeney Todd." But it was in 1973 that Christopher Bond presented a stage production, which is credited for introducing the revenge plot that is now associated with Sweeney Todd.

Burton based his movie, however, on the 1979 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by legendary composer Stephen Sondheim. For the purists among us, those who believe Sondheim is to Broadway musicals like Cecil B. Demille is to movies, it's comforting to know that Sondheim was involved in the adaptation and was a frequent visitor to the set.

But Burton's handprint is apparent throughout the film. He has turned up the gore and made the movie's plot even more sinister, with Depp's Sweeney seriously out for revenge. While the stage character, played originally in Sondheim's production by Len Cariou, definitely had revenge on his mind, there were comic moments that peeked through. Cariou's Todd wanted blood, but in a black comedy kind of way. There are still some satirical scenes in this "Sweeney," especially Mrs. Lovett's constant loopiness and a very funny scene with Sascha Baron Cohen as a sideshow barber.

Yet at the core of Burton's "Sweeney Todd" is murder and mayhem. Depp's demon barber finds no pleasure in life. His charcoal gray face never cracks a smile, unless it's as a body is dropping with a thud in Mrs. Lovett's basement after yet another throat slashing.

While Sweeney's scenes are played up to give Burton's muse, Depp, center stage, other scenes are scurried through, leaving the audience who may not know the show as confused as the unknowing customers that come to Todd for a shave and never return.

Jamie Campbell Bower's falsetto voice and long hair (one critic said he resembled Claire Danes and I couldn't agree more) is as pretentious as how quickly his character, Anthony, falls in love with Johanna after seeing her gazing out a window. Because there's no build up to the romance, moviegoers won't even particularly care if Anthony rescues her or not. She's Todd's daughter, but the barber doesn't particularly seem to really care about rescuing her, either.

There are plenty of moments to revel in with Burton's directing, the craft of the screenplay, the talent of the actors, but there are too many other moments of dripping blood and gore to make the film anything more than another slasher film.

Still, if you'd like to witness movie history being made, attend the tale of "Sweeney Todd."