Original franchise scribe Kevin Williamson steps up to a writer/director role in the saga’s first wholly mundane entry, Scream 7 (C). For both the filmmaker and his returning leading lady Neve Campbell, the exercise is oddly one of restraint, as if it’s more important to show they can right the ship of a successful formula than actually display joy in doing it. The main story focuses on Campbell’s character as she both protects and prepares her high school daughter (Isabel May) when a killer re-emerges as a new neighborhood nuisance. As final girl in training, May doesn’t make much of a splash, nor do the latest batch of fresh-faced teens, despite the director’s history cheerleading for this demo. Joel McHale is a new character with little to do, and Courtney Cox, the sole actor in all seven films, at least gets a few of her longtime wishes. There are a few creative kills and some fun cameos from Ghostfaces of series’ past, but the film is largely scare-free and dramatically inert. As the resident Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the proceedings, dispensing glib commentary about the film’s meta rules, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are a vibe and seem to be the only characters having a good time. For a horror series so steeped in always being one crafty step ahead of its characters, this tepid entry keeps everyone at about the same basic level. And as likely the biggest theatrical debut for the series in a while, it’s too bad the metaphorical knife here doesn’t slice with much panache.