Despite the involvement of John Carpenter, the creator of the 1980 original verson of The Fog, and despite the advances made in special effects during the past 25 years, this remake of a belovedly hokey (but scary) horror classic comes as a disappointment, and for three quarters of its length it's a crashing bore.

One hundred years after the birth of a west coast fishing town by murderous and thieving founding fathers, the victims of a sunken clipper ship return to impose justice on the descendents of those responsible for their deaths.

Those changes that have been made from the original do nothing to advance the story or to add interest. Apparently, updating a horror film in 2005 consists of replacing effectively scary special effects with slick but tiresome CGI, replacing proven and popular scream queens and true stars (Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh, John Houseman, Hal Holbrook) with a few teen idol TV stars.

Even Selma Blair, an actress whose presence in films like Hellboy, Pretty Persuasion and Cruel Intentions is a pleasure to see, doesn't help to make this return of The Fog any easier to get through.

The last 20 minutes manages to liven interests with some vivid imagery and a new retelling of the fate of the clipper ship Elizabeth Dane, but by then, most viewers will be too anxiously awaiting the end credits and an escape to the exits to very much care.