Deadly Species
Deadly Species
| 22 April 2003 (USA)
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Wealthy big game hunter, Wilson Frields, funds an expedition going deep into the Florida Everglades to search for the Calusa: a lost tribe of Native Americans. When the team discover the gruesome remains of another expedition, Friels admits he is searching for the Calusa's Fountain of Youth and its guardian, a mythical and deadly beast. As they delve deeper into the Everglades, the bloodthirsty beast begins to stalk and kill members of the group and, in one struggle, their leader Brinson Thomas is injured and begins to metamorphose into a creature himself. His only hope: to drink from the waters of the Fountain. The terrible truth behind the Calusa must be discovered if any of them are going to get out of there alive!

Reviews
Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!
HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.
Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Vomitron_G Now, this most definitely is some sort of "Predator" rip-off. Only, it should have been called "Deadly Chattings (in the Everglades)". Because all the characters in this movie do, is bore you to death by talking and walking around in some jungle. It lasts more than 45 minutes before we finally see a good look at the Predator-like creature. I must admit, this movie at least was better made than the hilariously abominable "Unseen Evil 2 (aka Alien 3000)" and "Alien 51". It even looked a little bit better (more bland & polished) and the cast more or less tried to act this time. The story at least tried to be a bit more serious (though still extremely clichéd and tedious). In the first 10 minutes we already see not one, but two different pairs of naked breasts. And even though the first 80 minutes are pretty much a waste of time, the conclusion during the last 5 minutes was amusing and the best part of the whole movie. The creature-suit and make-up was decent, even though its facial expression looked as dumb as your average Neanderthal. There, at least I did my best to give you some positives about this film.
TaniaMagna1984 that is all I can say. WOW. What a horrible excuse for a movie. I truly wish there was once good thing I could say... well, maybe there is...the poster's kinda cool. The overall concept of the story might have worked, had they found someone to actually write it. Horrible script, full of clichés, horrible photography (half the movie is out of focus), terrible location (have these people ever been to the everglades?) and to top it all... to top it all... hahaha... were did they find those actors? The lead (the doctor) was HORRIBLE! along with everyone else. The only half decent performance was by the financier and his bodyguard.
TheVid This low-budget monster movie tries to cash in on the old terror-in-the-woods creature feature formula, but tries way too hard for its own good. It's mostly annoying for taking itself too seriously. By the time you reach the climax, you're bored, even with a less-than-ninety-minute running time. Most of the bad parts are way worse than the rubber-suited monster harassing our protagonists; in fact, the creatures are amusing enough in a 50's sci-fi kind of way. The acting is soap-opera caliber, but the female lead is particularly homely and shrewish, which is a big mistake in a cheap thriller like this. The worse thing of all though, is an outdoor make-out session by a couple of disposable co-eds during which they feel up each other's blue jeans. While there is some throwaway, gratuitous nudity, it's not milked to the point of satisfaction and undercut by the constant and witless bantering between the cast. I'll reiterate, the women in this are all unappealing, a major mistake for this kind of flick. Unforgivable!
mlevans Deadly Species brings some less-than-acclaimed movies to mind. Congo, The Bog Creatures and Jurassic Park III all share some plot elements. Fortunately, Deadly Species succeeds in bringing home a polished, fulfilling horror flick, where the others-to varying degrees-failed.SPOILERS HEREINDS features Pete Penuel as Dr. Brinson Thomas, a noted archaeologist. His wife and fellow professor, Marta (Allison Adams) are turned down for a grant to fund an archaeological dig in the Everglades. Shortly thereafter, however, one of his university's leading donors, millionaire Wilson Friels (Brian Minyard) offers to fund a very similar expedition. The only catch is that he and his loyal assistant (who must go unnamed since IMDb for some reason lists only about half the cast!) are going with them.Of course, like in JP3, he has a secret motive for going. He had previously sent an expedition there, in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth and a Calusa ‘Gate to Hell' he has read about in ancient Spanish journals. (The Calusa was an ancient Native American tribe that Brinson Thomas has spent his career researching. Most think it has been extinct since mid-19th century; Dr. Thomas is convinced otherwise.) Like in Congo, Friels suspects something grizzly has happened to the first team. Just like in JP3, one wonders why he doesn't simply come clean with the good doctor up front. The Thomas' would probably still have gone-but would have picked a crew better prepared to defend itself against a hideous unknown assailant.I am surprised by the low rating for DS. Although it does bear surface similarity to these lowly regarded films, it is really quite well-crafted. Whereas The Bog Creatures winds up being (intentionally or not) a campy tribute to early 1950s B horror flicks, and whereas Congo and JP3 have some aspect that irritates the viewer to distraction (i.e., talking monkeys, wise and misunderstood raptors and screaming mothers), Deadly Species delivers what is promised.Director Daniel Springen shows a deft touch and Jon Greathouse's original scores are perfect to convey an eerie Gothic mood in the marshy underbrush. Unlike TBC, Springen does not completely give away his creature in the beginning. Only by inches at a time do we begin to see the hideous face of the thing stalking the researchers. This is no B horror flick. There is very little, if any cheese, here. Springen delivers a stylishly done horror film with all the desired elements.The movie's weakness would have to be the decision to insert a couple of generic college bimbos for unneeded topless shots and pouting. I could never keep the three girls straight during my one viewing. None of the students are much more than creature bait. Still, the adults in the virtually unknown cast more than rally to pick up the slack. Penuel and Adams are quite convincing as the husband-and-wife archaeology duo. (One wishes they would have left at least one of the bimbo students at home and redivided the air time proportionately.) Minyard and his muscle-bound helper are also very well-done. I had no trouble buying either of their characters. The flakey photographer, Laird Kleeger (Britt George) is intriguing, but underused. Somehow he and Adams seemed to have known each other in the past; yet this is never explained. Also a bit puzzling is a reference in the `official' synopsis that Dr. Thomas was in the process of morphing into a creature himself after he apparently cut his arm on the infected remains of one victim-although he and his wife both believed he was dying of poison from the creature (like the Komoda Dragon). Either could have been the case; if he WERE turning into a creature, it seems bizarre that the Fountain of Youth water would reverse the process.Despite a few questionable turns in the plot-including the bizarre ending, Deadly Species is entertaining and scary. It's no 3.3; call it a good, solid 7 that could have been an 8 with a little help.