The Mummy is the one that most people will think of where it concerns horror and archaeology, but it is not the only franchise on the big or small screen that remains relevant. Here are a few more.
The Alien Franchise
Alien is one of the best examples of the phenomena discussed in this project. While there are not many characters who are directly archaeologists in the series, many of the things that the various companies are pursuing are archaeological in nature. While not critically acclaimed, Prometheus (2012) is one of the best examples of this idea in the franchise.
In this film, the protagonists are actually named archaeologists. Both Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are attempting to find out who made humans, after discovering a star map in Scotland that led them to many ancient cultures around the world and eventually into space as well, funded by the Weyland Corporation.
Several interesting points in this film relate to the subject of this project:
1. Ancient Star Maps
This is directly related to many of the ideas of ancient aliens. It is also one of the most prominent examples of pseudoarchaeology in this franchise as well.
2. The Company
The Weyland Corporation is a famously corrupt company in the Alien franchise. They are at least in-part responsible for many of the disasters that happen. Company greed is an extension of scientific greed but on a corporate scale. This is horrifyingly true to life far too often to recount, even for archaeologists. The Hobby Lobby art scandal is a good example, although not on the cosmic horror scale. Still, this corporate greed is part of many different works in this same category.
Elizabeth Shaw in Prometheus (2012)
3. Human Vulnerability
Most of Lovecraft’s human characters are completely at the mercy of the cosmic horrors they encounter. Human vulnerability is one of the most misunderstood parts of Lovecraftian horror -- or cosmic horror -- in general. According to his works, humans are completely at the mercy of the beings they encounter. It is as if an ant is meeting a human, not knowing what one was, and incapable of seeing anything but a limb. In the same way, in Lovecraft humans are incapable of seeing the full picture, and the glimpses they do see are enough to uncover those mysteries that should have been left alone.
While Shaw does survive, and many of Lovecraft’s protagonists do, she does so at the mercy of the forces greater than her. The Engineer and the Alien are distracted by each other. The humans are just tools, an annoying fly that’s in the way at best, and Shaw only escapes because two cosmic beings fight each other instead of her. It’s a good example of the humans not really winning. This doesn’t have as much to do with archaeology specifically, but it is an important trope in the Lovecraftian genre, which means it often gets wrapped up in archaeology as well.
Stargate SG-1
While this series is primarily considered science-fiction, it does lean into cosmic horror tropes at times. A good example is the original movie and pilot episode, where extraterrestrial creatures, heavily influenced by Egyptian mythology, are interfering with life on earth. It is not Lovecraftian horror, not in the strict sense, but it does follow many of the same tropes.
Lovecraft Country
While there is not tons of archaeology per se in the series itself, or in the book, it is both a very good series about cosmic horror while having a lot to say about the societal tropes that Lovecraft perpetuated. The dichotomy of the work of a xenophobic man being used to directly criticize racism and societal norms is staged well, and the series works to undo a lot of those stereotypes that were discussed in Lovecraft’s direct works.
The series follows a family of African Americans living in Chicago in the 1950’s who attempt to navigate cosmic horrors while having to deal with the fact that they are African American in a world that is cruel and quite racist on its own without any cosmic horrors. It balances these ideas well, and there is a very good interview with the author that discusses these issues.