“Scream 7” review: Put a knife in it – this franchise is (or should be) finished

There is a lot of suspense in the seventh installment of Revered Screaming Horror movie franchise. Unfortunately, most of it involves backstory and corporate machinations. Does Melissa Barrera deserve to be fired? What is the real reason for Jenna Ortega’s departure? What kind of hardball did Neve Campbell play to lure him back into the series? Will series creator Kevin Williamson do a good job directing a feature for the first time? Which veteran franchise artists, representing characters living and dead, return for an appearance? More importantly, why did the title go back to Arabic numerals after they last used the Roman numeral?

Sorry, but you should have something to think about during this latest installment of a franchise that is dead creatively if not certainly commercially. You can rest assured that Ghostface, who always wears that creepy mask and is voiced by Roger L. Jackson, will work his way through most of the cast, whose survival will depend on contract negotiations. There will be false fears, followed by real fears, and plenty of self-referential discussions in which characters comment sarcastically on their situation. “It’s always someone you know,” one notes about the true identity of the killer behind the mask. “This was so easy,” another comment came after Ghostface was apparently sent at some point. “There’s always more than one.”

By now, the mechanics of the series have become so familiar that the films have the retro feel of a Pink Floyd cover band. Big news about Screaming 7And of course, Campbell returns as Sidney Prescott, who was sorely missed in the last part. It’s no surprise that screenwriters Williamson and Guy Busiek make sure to let us know we’re in on the joke when Jill Weathers, the intrepid TV reporter played by Courteney Cox, is seriously injured in… Sixth scream (But you survived, of course.) “I missed you in New York, it’s not the same without you,” he told Sydney, adding: “You’re lucky you sat out. It was brutal.” Naturally, Sydney has been described as a “scream queen” on par with Jamie Lee Curtis Halloween films.

Sydney has made a new life for herself in another city: she is now happily married to local cop Mark (Joel McHale) and has a teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabelle May), named after Sydney’s friend, who met an untimely end in… Screaming. Tatum’s friend (Sam Rechner) has the kind of devilish outlook that makes him a suspect when Ghostface returns to wreak havoc. Not that Ghostface seems shy about revealing his identity, as Sidney receives a series of taunting and threatening videos from Stu (Matthew Lillard), Ghostface’s partner in the first film, who is presumed dead.

Or did he do that? It’s hard to know, since the series is so fond of reviving past characters despite their deceased status, that you practically need a spreadsheet to keep track of them all. You can rest assured there’s plenty of it on offer in this installment, with only Paramount’s threats to send Ghostface to my house keeping me from revealing it. But hopefully it’s not a spoiler to say that the series has kept up with modern technology, with artificial intelligence proving a key component of this.

Other new characters who may or may not survive include Sydney’s caring neighbor Jessica (Anna Camp); her son Lucas (Asa German), who is obsessed with Ghostface’s previous murders; Tatum’s cheerful friend Hannah (Mckenna Grace); and mental institution employee Marco (Ethan Embry), who provides useful information about some of the former residents. Feel free to place your bets on which of them, or anyone else, is the person or people behind the mask, but you can rest assured that this is a letdown.

The excess of familiarity would be more palatable if the dialogue was as fresh and funny as it was in the first parts, or if the kills were staged more creatively. But there is a routine quality to the actions that it makes Screaming 7 It feels daunting despite its high body count and abundant blood. The supporting players, especially the younger ones, lack the flair of their predecessors, with Campbell and Cox making up for this deficiency to good but unsurprising effect. Although it must be said that the latter can make one hell of an entrance.