Bad Movie Alert

"The Wolfman" looks like a dud:

Johnston desperately over-relies on fog machines, startling noises and cheesy gore to summon up a semblance of atmosphere and tension in the 1890s tale about an estranged son's lycanthropic transformation. Benicio Del Toro, who won an Oscar for his searing work in "Traffic," glowers, scowls and unleashes a howl — generated by an opera singer — that wouldn't give "Scooby-Doo" the willies. It's a performance with more ham than a New York deli.

...We're indifferent whether any of these bozos lives or perishes. In fact, the only guy we root for is Scotland Yard investigator Aberline (Hugo Weaving of "The Matrix"), the person we're supposed to hiss at. Weaving brings a welcome dollop of wit and style in his all-too-brief scenes.

His brand of sly intelligence is sorely lacking in a cliched script from Andrew Kevin Walker ("Se7en") and David Self ("The Haunting"). The duo ineptly add an unbelievable romance, bursts of pandemonium, a torture scene in an asylum and a hilarious werewolf smackdown match. The film notes reverently credit the original "Wolfman" script by Curt Siodmak as the source of inspiration. If Siodmak were alive today, he might want to seek legal counsel.