After enough preproduction drama to fill a film of its own, the “Scream” franchise is back again for “Scream 7.”

While the previous two films helmed by Matt Bettinelli-Opin and Tyler Gillett showed there was still gas in the tank left for the franchise, the well is quickly dried up in this installment. This feels like a movie that had casting issues and a complete re-write midstream, leaning so heavily on nostalgia that the film brings very little original to the table.

It’s a film desperately trying to relive its past that ultimately just pales in comparison to its superior predecessors.

“Scream 7” leaves behind the sister duo played by Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega and returns to the original heroine Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell, who returns after her notable absence in the previous film).

Sidney is now married trying to deal with her past trauma while also butting heads with her 17-year-old daughter Tatum (Isabel May). When a Ghostface killer targets Sidney and Tatum, everyone becomes a potential suspect or villain.

While Tatum and her friends (including McKenna Grace and Sam Rechner) deal with the killer, Sidney is trying to track down who could be behind it — perhaps even someone from her past long assumed dead.

In addition to Campbell, “Scream 7” brings back Courtney Cox as TV reporter Gale Weathers, with original screenwriter Kevin Williamson back as writer and director. Williamson leans heavy on his previous work with several sequences having familiar story beats as some of the previous films.

There are also a few cameos best left unspoiled (one that many fans wanted in the previous film) and the return of the twin siblings Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding — the lone holdovers from the previous film, who are a bright spot in the little screen time they are given here.

The problem with leaning so heavily on all the nostalgia is it only makes it more obvious that the new material really doesn’t have anything interesting up its sleeve. Sure there are a few creative kills and the use of Artificial Intelligence does at least bring the series into the modern world.

But all the good will can only take this “Scream” so far. Even the opening sequence, the staple of this franchise, lacks the sizzle of the previous films. For a franchise that thrived on thinking outside the box this entry plays everything really close to the horror genre playback.

The result is a film that isn’t quite as bad as last year’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot, but it is bad enough that it raises the question of whether it’s time to pull the plug on this once clever franchise.

Grade: C-