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
HumanoidOfFlesh

The plot of "Deadly Species" is fairly simple:an expedition to Everglades in search of a lost native tribe The Calusa turns out to be really a search for the mythical fountain of youth.The expedition consists of two university professors,a bunch of nubile students and a photographer as well as the backer who insists he goes along with his muscled security man.Soon some of them start to die killed by mysterious creatures hidden in the Everglades.Surprisingly dull and badly-acted monster movie which lacks gore and scares.The scenery is quite lush and atmospheric plus there are some shots of naked boobs.The climax is hysterical and pretty stupid.Don't waste your time with "Deadly Species".4 tribes out of 10.

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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.

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Jason Guthrie

So there's this professor right..and he loses his grant for whatever "research" he's doing. Then, magically this random guy that hangs out with gross naked chicks calls him and says I'll give you 30,000 to go hunting for some long lost tribe with me. So this professor rounds up some students to go with him and they drive about 10 feet off the side of the road to go looking for this tribe....and seriously it was like 10 feet off the side of the road...in the everglades.....a long lost tribe....10 feet off the side of the road in the everglades. Makes you wonder how they got lost. So on their little conquest they run into some big rubber monster....and seriously, that's what it looked like. It was awesome special effects. So the guy that gave the professor the grant really came up to get this "deadly species" but didn't tell the professor that, so the rest of the movie there is a lot of fighting between characters and a lot of hunting for this rubber monster. Blah blah blah...pretty much everyone dies and they find their special tribe. This movie was pretty bad....if it wasn't for the hot chick that decides to bathe naked in the creek I would have scored it even lower. So if you want to see some boobs (there's at least 3 sets of boobs) then go ahead and rent this one. I bought it, but mostly because I'm in Iraq with absolutely nothing to do and nothing better to spend my money on.

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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.

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