Burr Steers directs Lily James, Sam Riley and Jack Huston in a horror / period romance mash-up.

The book was a joke gift people bought for loved ones who vaguely liked Austen and horror (that’s most people, right?). A bit like The Ladybird book of Brexit or the Crazy Frog ringtone, there’s little surprise that a modern fad does not a great night at the movies inspire. I guess when Natalie Portman was involved there could have been a better movie birthed from such ignominious circumstances. I can’t tell Lily James and Lily Collins apart, I think the one here is the more talented and less insipid but this isn’t the showcase for that. There aren’t really enough zombies or action sequences. Leaving us with a film that is 80% straight Pride and Prejudice adaptation. Matt Smith and Sally Phillips noodle interesting performances in the wings, the production values are solid. The only time this threatens to come to life though is in a saucy tooling up montage involved blades and frilly corsets. Redundant.

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