The long-awaited film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' (itself a humorous horror take on the Jane Austen novel) has finally hit cinemas, and the critical reception is predictably mixed. Overall, it seems that it's a low-budget laugh, if lacking a stimulating plot.

Pride And Prejudice And ZombiesPride And Prejudice And Zombies divides critics

Basically, the story follows that of 'Pride And Prejudice' in that the Bennet sisters' mother is attempting to marry them off to wealthy suitors, with the added idea that their father is having them undergo weapons training to defend themselves against the zombies that roam the land.

Screendaily praised the performance of Matt Smith as Parson Collins and the union of Lily James and Sam Riley as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, but criticized the choppy editing, 'polite blurry lenses' and 'referenced off-camera action' in the place of would-be gory moments, and thus 'unconvincing zombies'. Variety had similar comments, summarising the film as 'tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt substantial audiences'.

More: Watch the trailer for 'Pride And Prejudice And Zombies'

On a more scathing note, The Wrap thought it was a dumbed-down concept of 'idiocy and irrelevance', Empire branded it 'a joyless dud' and the Hollywood Reporter wittily said it was 'lifeless'. The cast was still heavily praised, however; in fact, most online reviews had plenty of positive things to say about Smith, James and Riley. A 'cracking cast' in which Smith 'brightened proceedings' and James brought a 'clever' performance as the 'kick-ass' Miss Bennett.

So, to a general film audience, it's not a wholly welcomed concept, but for those whom the movie was aimed at (comic book lovers and horror fans), it's not such a disappointment. Hit Fix called it 'entirely agreeable' and Crave Online a 'gentle hoot', while Bloody Disgusting said the action scenes were 'exceptional' and, for viewers willing to 'turn [their] brains off', it could be 'the most entertaining film of the season'. Den Of Geek even praised the film as 'fantastically fun and clever'.

Still, the reception for 'Pride And Prejudice And Zombies' is mainly lukewarm, and even the positive reviews had their criticisms; Bloody Disgusting over the choppy editing and Den Of Geek only gave it 3 out of 5 stars, for example.

'Pride And Prejudice And Zombies' hits US theaters on February 10th 2016.