Tim Burton has always liked to keep things in the family. He gave then-girlfriend Lisa Marie bit-parts in four of his films.
His current partner, Helena Bonham Carter, figures prominently in three. Now he's put her centre stage in one of Broadway's most celebrated musicals. Surely, even by the incestuous standards of showbiz, the man is pushing his luck.
Well, it holds. In this bold, eerily intimate adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's dark masterpiece, Bonham Carter's aspirational piemaker is easily the most haunting figure. Burton insists he didn't pull strings to get her the role as Mrs Lovett. Even if he did, who cares? Bonham Carter - flashing weary breasts and carnivorous smile - is fiendishly good.
Nor should we forget Johnny Depp. As Sweeney Todd - the embittered ex-con who, with Mrs Lovett's help, finds the perfect way to revenge himself on London's corrupt top brass - Depp provides the film with a pleasantly stony core.
So often cast as a lovable man-child (not least in Burton's films) he is surprisingly plausible as an emotional corpse. Like Bonham Carter, Depp isn't an especially good singer, he just looks and feels perfect. The rest of the cast are equally compelling - especially Ed Sanders, as Tobey, the urchin Mrs Lovett recklessly adopts.
Audiences love getting up close and personal with working class types who - temporarily at least - get away with murder.
Yet for all its brazen gore, Sweeney Todd never goes for cheap thrills. Burton, who, if there is any justice, will win a best director Oscar, knows the gothic universe inside and out and, for the first time in years, seems invigorated by the shadows.
He offers a vision of what it means to be a low-life surrounded by wealth which - with Sondheim's jarring, joyous music - makes clear we all have blood on our hands.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Cert: 18
