You know the classic fairy tale? Well, this isn’t it. The new ‘adults only’ trailer for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is out and there’s no shortage of blood and guts on show. But the question remains, will this end up being absurd and silly or blood-bathingly entertaining?

The super-talented Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy, The Town) and British beauty Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia) play the legendary literary siblings who, 15 years on from their “traumatic gingerbread-house incident”, have become the ultimate witch-hunting team. But suddenly, with the head-count rising and the cackling menace on the decline, the two find the tables turned… the hunters become the hunted.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is directed by Tommy Wirkola; who’s a great choice if it’s hilarious splatter you’re after. His Norwegian indie horror-comedy Dead Snow was, I recall, very entertaining. And this time out Wirkola won’t have to worry about the budget for fake blood, as the shot of Arterton bathed in the red liquid gloriously illustrates.

This is a red band trailer… so not for little children.

This looks like a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ type film. I’m seeing a bit too much Van Helsing in this for my liking – although the O.T.T. nature of the killings goes way beyond that tame effort. And this could still be fun-fest Van Helsing should have been. I guess we’ll find out in January.

Hollywood mega-budgets don’t often help indie directors, used to crafting genius on an empty wallet. Unfortunately it looks like the extra money didn’t get to all the right places here. The sets and practical effects are glorious but the digital effects… not so much – which is a shame. And the deliberate use of effects for 3D purposes is beyond gimmicky and has me more than a little worried.

I’ll go to this for Renner. Seeing him dismember witches with Expendables-style fervour should be a laugh – even if the film is not.

Thought on this one people? Love it, hate it or does it all look at bit ‘meh’?

Fifteen years after their traumatic gingerbread-house incident, siblings Hansel and Gretel have become a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, the film stars Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Thomas Mann, Zoe Bell, Peter Stormare, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Derek Mears, Pihla Viitala, Joanna Kulig, Monique Ganderton, and Christian Rubeck.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters swoops into Kiwi cinemas on January 24, 2013.