Has Prometheus Actually Killed At The Mountains of Madness?

"Mountains" takes place in the 1930s where a group of scientists are making an expedition to Antarctica to study newly discovered ancient life forms and their evolution. It is an expedition that has potential to change the view of how life evolved on the planet. The protagonists make their way up to the region only to find huge, abandoned ruins of a once great civilization. Members of their group begin to die in mysterious circumstances, but the journey continues on. In the ruins, the scientists here read hieroglyphs that tell the story of the Elder Gods, extraterrestrials who came to this planet, and created life, both human and a slave race known as Shoggoths. Surprise, surprise, the Shoggoths turn on the Elder Gods and destroy them. The murals also suggest there is an even more terrifying evil than the Shoggoths in the area - the Chtulhu - described as, "an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature.... A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque scaly body with rudimentary wings." As the scientists discover more and more of the tale of the Elder Gods' fall, the corpses of the Gods begin to reanimate and re-inhabit the city. Using diversion and intelligence, the remaining scientists manage to get to their plane and leave the god forsaken land, but one of them catches a glimpse of the Chtulhu and loses his sanity. The story ends with the strong conviction that no further expeditions should be made to protect the world from the horrors of the Shoggoths and the beast up there. There the two plots are in basic senses - obviously the details have their fare share of differences. Guillermo del Toro seems to have noticed all the right beats from just the trailers as it seems "Prometheus" takes quite a lot of inspiration from Lovecraft. The search that leads to explanations about the extraterrestrial origins of life on earth, the demise of our creators by their own ungodly creations, as well as horrific scenes with a giant squid-like being inhabit both stories. Both have rather cynical endings and leave you with a hell of a lot to ponder. Do these similarities hurt or harm each other, though? Guillermo del Toro may possess more artistic integrity than one willing to retread a lot of similar plot points and themes in a project, but has Hollywood ever cared about that? The fact is, a huge R-rated film like "Prometheus" has just as much of a chance of reanimating "At The Mountains of Madness" as it does killing it, at least to a studio. Studios LOVE when similar projects can exist and prove lucrative. After all, did we not just se two "Snow White" films in the last few months? Why should we not think that, should "Prometheus" continue to find success worldwide, studios won't want a whole slew of Ancient Alien dark films? Well, maybe not a slew. That's probably pushing it. But one more couldn't hurt, right? Would Guillermo del Toro's Lovecraft adaptation still be worth watching following a similar film like "Prometheus?" Should he attempt it still? What do you think?

Contributor

Tom Knoblauch has been an active cinephile since a very early age. When he's not hosting his radio show or working on various writing assignments, he's watching movies and studying the latest news.