How hard can it possibly be to make a proficient remake of a classic horror film? Since vampires have been the latest fad with shows like “True Blood” and the “Twilight” movies infecting the cinematic universe, now would seem like the optimal time to remake other films starring things that go bump in the night.

Universal Studios took a crack at summoning the spooks of yesteryear with 2004’s atrocity “Van Helsing,” and now they take a shot at redemption with the opening of “The Wolfman.” The aforementioned conundrum — regarding the capability of producers and directors to make a passable classic — is answered by “Wolfman” with a swift and resounding “we make these because we’re bored and need material.” Going into this movie optimistically will only result in a sense of betrayal by your own instincts.

“The Wolfman” takes place in Victorian-era Great Britain, where a malicious figure, the Wolfman, is dismantling and dismembering a small community. Enter Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro, “Che”), brother of the latest Wolfman victim, who returns from America to lament with his father (Anthony Hopkins, “Beowulf”) and his brother’s widow (Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”). Although his return may be some evidence of brotherly love, the audience is not treated to more than five seconds of character development of the deceased sibling, and it is unclear as to what Lawrence plans to do now that he is in the country.

After some uneventful mulling around with the locals, Lawrence finds himself helping the cause in the midst of an attack. Unfortunately, he is bitten by the beast and is doomed to become one himself. And so the movie takes off. That’s it.

While this summary may shock you as simplistic, what’s more shocking is how a plot exponentially more simplistic somehow made its way to production, much less with a star-studded cast, including the underrated and overlooked talent of Hugo Weaving (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”).

During the current era of cinema, manipulation and redefinition is necessary to make an old horror applicable to audiences. Who is to blame for not otherwise satisfying the craze of these audiences? We may find exactly how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop before this question is answered.

Despite a short list of accomplishments, director Joe Johnston is by no means a rookie. He tackled the dramatic realm efficiently with “October Sky” and took a meager poke at action with “Jurassic Park III,” but his real calling — at least in the ’80s — was visuals for the old “Star Wars” flicks, and he even netted an Oscar for special effects for “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” One would assume dabbling in these three areas would make Johnston one talented chap, but “Wolfman” would be the exception to this assumption.

Del Toro, Hopkins, Blunt and Weaving are all incredibly worthy of praise, yet Johnston and the screenwriters make these stars shimmer instead of shine. Each of their characters is so shallowly introduced and developed they might as well be written off as extras. Perhaps a more seasoned director and writers more interested in reinventing an old classic could have produced some kind of feature that would have given these actors a good reason to throw “Wolfman” on their r?sum?.

To sum up the general gist of this movie, it is a feeble attempt at resurrecting the simple plots that governed the ideals of classic horror flicks. Back in the day, all audiences required from a sci-fi thriller was a unique and bizarre social commentary. The A-bomb led pictures like “Godzilla” and “Them,” the Red Scare inspired “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” — and every subsequent remake — and the heads of Universal still think these topics will keep an audience entertained. Science fiction hasn’t been so much of an empty void of creativity that audiences require an identical copy of the old “Wolfman.” Although the movie boasts a great cast, the simplicity of the writing — essentially taken straight from the original — isn’t enough to disguise a hearty dosage of bland plot. Although there is an ample amount of Blunt side boob, it still isn’t enough to save a classic.

1 star out of 5.