Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street + short film

Part One of our Cult Cinema Weekend, curated and presented by David Tibet, of British hallucinatory supergroup Current 93, and his partner, visual artist Ania Goszczyńska.

The film features the terrifying talents of Newcastle’s Norman Carter—otherwise known as ‘Tod’—Slaughter – the first true icon of British horror cinema. Unlike his contemporaries, such as Boris Karloff and Charles Laughton, Tod Slaughter never left his native shores. Instead, he chose to make his mark in Britain by transferring his most sensational theatrical performances to the screen.

Portraying every kind of cruel and cunning criminal – from petty thief to mass murderer – Slaughter became the first great villain of British horror, at a time before the Grand Guignol of Hammer Films began to take hold, without once donning monster make-up.

Criminally overlooked by film historians, and only previously seen in compromised versions, these cult cinema classics have been newly restored using original film materials preserved at the BFI National Archive.

As part of this special presentation, we are also screening “London After Dark”, a short silent film featuring Tod Slaughter’s first ever cinematic appearance, with an original Current 93 soundtrack, alongside a collective listen to the original radio broadcast of Tod Slaughter and Company performing Sweeney Todd.

We are delighted that David Tibet will introduce the film in person, before his sold-out performance with Current 93 in Hastings later the same evening, and following their also sold-out London appearance the night before.

We will also be displaying some of David’s and Ania’s original artworks as part of the Cult Cinema Weekend.

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