Music

Over 80% of the movie is based on music, and/or singing. As in all other musicals, the lyrics of the songs tell the story as it goes along and so are integral to the understanding of the movie.

The opening scene begins with an organ playing fortissimo. The effect of that is to grab the listeners' attention. The effect of the organ is similar to other movies such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and vampire movies; very atmospheric and forceful. Although the organ is traditionally an instrument played at large cathedrals, in contrast to the demonic themes of the movie, it adds to the opening feel of the movie as the sound of the organ and how it is played sounds more scary rather than religious. After the organ reaches its crescendo, there is a short silence and then some of the string instruments begin to play the orchestral version of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" softly, but quickly. As the music builds from Adagio, more instruments come in and it becomes Allegro and Staccato. Staccato gives the impression of violence and in some movies, stabbing.

The majority of the songs have a spooky feel to them, especially the high pitched, piercing, eerie singing. A lot of the lyrics in the songs are spoken more than sung. Many of the notes are sharps or flats, they are not nice crisp sounds. This gives the impression of chaos, confusion and anger. The style of the opera singing in this movie is more disjointed than in for example "The Phantom of the Opera", where the singing is beautiful and pleasing to the ear.