The Wolfman

There'll be a lot more howling at The Wolfman than actually goes on in Joe Johnston's ridiculous remake of the 1941 Universal horror classic. The oft-delayed release, at one point scheduled for February 2009, did not hit theaters until a year later, following difficulties with both director (Johnston took over for Mark Romanek) and composer (Danny Elfman left over creative differences), the trashing of Rick Baker's original monster design, and extensive postproduction reshoots. Even emergency editors Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now) and Mark Goldblatt (The Terminator) were unable to make sense out of Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self's plot-hole-filled script. Benicio del Toro, starring in the role created by Lon Chaney, Jr., broods his way through the film, while Anthony Hopkins, cast in the Claude Rains part, looks like he'd rather be anywhere else than Victorian England. Hugo Weaving is wasted as the Scotland Yard detective on the hunt for a murderer, while Emily Blunt suffers through her clichéd role as the romantic interest. Johnston (Jurassic Park III) uses every cheap tactic in the book, from silly dream sequences to sudden shocks, trying anything he can to scare audiences, who will look on aghast during a finale that is nothing short of jaw-droppingly bad.