I struggled with "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" for days after I saw it.

How to write a review of a movie with such characters, all of them insane in their own special ways?

"Todd" plays like some twisted case study for a class of grad-school psychiatrists. The title character, played by Johnny Depp, returns to London with an obsession for revenge. Arriving back at his old haunt, Todd teams up with Mrs. Lovett, a piemaker played by Helena Bonham Carter. Madness - and a lot of death - follow shortly.

Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the stage version, and John Logan, who adapted it for the big screen, walk a very fine line between dark comedy and just dark. There were moments where I laughed simply because I was feeling too many different emotions to do nothing.

There are upbeat songs too - oh yes, this is a musical - making for somewhat happy moments in this wicked tale. My favorite is the cheery number where the two leads decide to dispose of Todd's victims by going the Soylent Green route with Mrs. Lovett's pies, replete with trap door from barber's chair to basement oven.

Visually, "Todd" is muted grays and blacks, until the blood-letting starts. The movie is gory - gory enough to put many horror movies to shame. The crimson stains of blood on Todd's shirt and his blade stand out from everything else. I was a little worried about having nightmares after I saw this.

The acting in this movie is great. Depp turns in a brilliant performance. He's unwaveringly dark, and his singing voice endows his character with edge and urgency.

Carter is equally at home in her role as partner-in-crime and would-be lover, full devotion and delusion.

Tim Burton's long history of collaboration with these two must have made it easier to coax such nuanced and frenzied performances out of both fine actors. The supporting crew is equally well-cast, both as actors and singers, including Alan Rickman as the slimy Judge Turpin.

In all, this twisted tale makes the viewer - it at least made me - feel empathy for a man who eventually amounts to a deranged serial killer. It's sardonic, but gripping. I was captivated starting with the first organ chord during the studio logos, and was on edge for the next two hours. I've not been so thoroughly engrossed by a film in a very long time.

Enjoy this mad, bloody feature. Just leave the kids - and the squeamish - at home.

{M3'Sweeney Todd'

Starring: {M3Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman

{M3Director: {M3Tim Burton

{M3Run time:{M3 1 hour, 35 minutes

{M3Rated:{M3 R, for graphic bloody violence

{M3Now playing at: {M3College Square, Crossroads

4.5 out of 5 stars