House of the Dead II interview

Considering House of the Dead II is a sequel to a movie based off a videogame, I'm actually optimistic about it after reading a Q&A with the director, Michael Hurst. From Gamecloud:

Gamecloud - What would you say is the main theme or themes that you wanted to explore in the movie? Michael Hurst -To be honest, I just wanted to make a kick-ass piece of entertainment, a full-blown horror film for the fans. I wanted to make sure there was enough action, enough blood, enough explosions and enough likeable characters getting chunks bitten out of 'em. I wanted to tell a good story and create that rollercoaster effect. The script had some social observations and sly humor, including some veiled references to what's going on in Iraq that I think plays very well and works on two levels. But most of that was all Mark and was all on the page, I focussed on making sure the horror fans got their money's worth. snip Gamecloud - Overall are you happy with the way the movie is turning out? Michael Hurst -I'm very proud of House of the Dead 2, I love watching it with people and I feel good about the work I did on it. I also learned a lot, which is always a positive thing, particularly about directing action. I was aware going in that the first film had not been well received and Mark Altman was very clear from the start that he wanted this film to be very different from the first. We set out to make a film that delivered to the horror fans, because we're horror fans ourselves. I love horror movies, and don't agree with people who are snobbish towards them. Terrifying people is a craft, and I look forward to doing it as many times as I can. So far the response to HOD 2 has been great - it got a standing ovation at the Sitges Film Festival, an audience made up of the real die-hard horror fans. Apparently Quentin Tarantino was in the audience that night and he loved it. As a film maker you can't ask for better than that.

It sounds to me like he's somebody who gets horror.