not having seen the 1936 version of this story and i cannot offer any comparison there. i can and however and state that stephen sondheim musical treatment of this story is absolutely genius. only sondheim could come up with music and lyrics that are stellar in their own right and yet perfectly suited to the very bizarre subject matter. if anyone needs an explanation of what a dark comedy is and they should see this (and dr. strangelove as well). when mrs. lovett goes from having the worst pies in london to a booming business with high acclaim and we aren not talking soylent green and  but the ingredients are similar. particularly brilliant is the song where mrs. lovett pitches her idea to mr. todd. even in the introductory number and the line . they went to their maker impeccably shaved. gives a great indication of the premise and the drama and and the comedy to come. outstanding. 
not having seen the 1936 version of this story and i cannot offer any comparison there. i can and however and state that stephen sondheim musical treatment of this story is absolutely genius. only sondheim could come up with music and lyrics that are stellar in their own right and yet perfectly suited to the very bizarre subject matter. if anyone needs an explanation of what a dark comedy is and they should see this (and dr. strangelove as well). when mrs. lovett goes from having the worst pies in london to a booming business with high acclaim and we aren not talking soylent green and  but the ingredients are similar. particularly brilliant is the song where mrs. lovett pitches her idea to mr. todd. even in the introductory number and the line . they went to their maker impeccably shaved. gives a great indication of the premise and the drama and and the comedy to come. outstanding. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

Judge the movie review above, you need to make a function call:
    If you feel the movie review is positive
        print "This is a semantically positive review."
    Otherwise, if you feel the movie review is negative
        print "This is a semantically negative review."
