How did Child's Play and Scream bring horror back, and why were they different?

Research question: How did Child's Play and Scream revive interest in horror in the late 1980s and 1990s, and what made their self-aware style different?

The records show that Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) is presented as the purest example of the 'new stalker' film, in which self-reflexive concepts can be observed clearly ³. The eighties stalker genre was reborn in the nineties as a self-reflexive text ². Scream also reinvented the slasher subgenre and gave it new life after a long run of sequels with diminishing returns ⁴. Its difference lay in engaging with and directly criticizing the state of horror cinema, not just offering a fresh property for audiences ⁵. Valerie Wee argued that Scream leans more progressive than 1970s and 1980s slashers, citing its female-oriented perspective and popularity with female audiences ⁶. The facts discuss only Scream, so they say nothing about Child's Play or its role in reviving horror interest ³.

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