One hundred years ago a boat-load of lepers were killed by the citizens of Antonio Bay who also stole their money and their land. Today discjockey Selma Blair sits in her lighthouse watching a huge fog floating towards the little town. Soon mysterious things are happening, dead bodies are turning up everywhere, grandma is dragged down the sink. Meanwhile Maggie Grace, on the run from TV's Lost, is confused over the journal of one of the town's founding fathers that she has found in her boyfriend's boathouse. It seems as if the lepers has come back to Antonio Bay, hiding within the fog, to claim their lawful land back from the current population who must pay for what their forefathers once did.

As unnecessary remakes go, The Fog anno 2005 could be the most unnecessary of them all, as it doesn't add anything at all to the 1980 classic. Where original director John Carpenter, who also produced this one, had a great ensemble to work with (Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh) and maybe the thickest atmosphere in horror history, Rupert Wainwright can only muster a wimpy atmosphere and embarrasing performances from a weak cast. If anything, this update is even more flawed and foggy than the original which was pretty foggy itself (but in a good way). While trying to flesh out the old plot it instead makes it even more confusing and illogic thanks to sloppy and unconvincing screenwriting. Things just doesn't hang together properly, the Selma character so crucial in the original could have been left out entirely, and it becomes deadening quickly. And if, as the Bible quotation in the beginning of the film says, "the sins of the Father will be visited upon the heads of the son", then why are so many innocent unknowing people killed? On top of it comes the ridiculous CG ghost effects at the end which aren't even worth mentioning.

So is it a complete waste of time? Do I tell you to avoid it? Maybe not. Set design and cinematography is often excellent and if you haven't seen the original The Fog this new version could perhaps spook you briefly. But just briefly and just about.