1
Doctor, you better
take a look!
Come here, sweetheart.
No problem, we're gonna
fix you up real fast, OK?
What do we have here?
She's lost a lot of blood.
Let's set up a transfusion
and get me ten cc's
of Xylocaine.
- We're all out.
- Make it Lidocaine.
- What about supplies?
- They only sent bandages.
Get some antiseptic.
You'll be just fine.
Dr. Mattley?
I'm afraid you'll have to wait
in line. We're backed up here.
I'm not here
for medical attention.
I've come to see you.
Well, as you can see,
I'm kind of swamped
right now, Mr...
Doctor. Dr. Carl Wessinger.
Our company has been sending
you supplies for a year now.
- She's gonna be just fine.
- Thank you.
All right? So, doctor,
what is it I can do for you?
I just need
two minutes of your time.
I'm sure you
won't regret it.
I think that's
the least I owe you.
Oh, no, Ash.
You don't owe me anything.
Not yet.
Sorry about the mess.
It's the work.
Clock's ticking, doctor.
I'm all ears.
You were so close.
Those idiots back home
have no clue as to
what you have discovered.
Dr. Wessinger, I really
don't have time to talk
about that.
They made you a laughingstock.
A synthesized enzyme
found in a beetle from
the heart of the rainforest,
capable of strengthening
the human immune system
to repel almost any disease,
pneumonia, diphtheria,
cancer, AIDS.
And they just laughed at you.
Well...
...I couldn't stabilize
the formula.
Besides, it's just
a hobby now.
I'd say this was bordering
obsession for just a hobby.
- Dr. Mattley.
- Don't touch that.
- Time's up, doctor.
- No, it's just starting.
Now listen to me, Ash.
Supposing I told you
that I found a way
to produce in a stable
environment your enzyme,
but on a massive scale.
I'd tell you
it was impossible.
What the hell are you doing?
You see, your approach
was almost there.
You were logical,
pragmatic, but just
thinking too small.
That should do it.
I need your help, Ash.
I need to find
another serum beetle.
And you have to take me there.
You're the only person
who's ever seen one.
It's incredible.
How did I miss this?
Ash, are you listening to me?
You'll be a household name.
Together, we can make history.
I run a hospital,
I can't just leave.
You've got a hospital that's
understaffed and supplied.
You can barely cure a headache.
And you, Ash,
you look exhausted.
When was the last time
you got a night's sleep?
I know what these people
mean to you, Ash.
I know that you were
raised as a young child
by a local tribe.
And as soon as you graduated
medical school,
came straight back. To help.
To educate. To love.
I'm giving you the chance
to make a difference.
If we succeed, we can
build a dozen hospitals,
and know that you found a cure
to save a million lives!
And what's in it
for you, doctor?
I'm a genetic scientist.
I've spent my life
working for a pittance.
Creating useless formulas
to make pharmaceutical
companies rich.
And now I'm standing
on the edge of the greatest
triumph of the 20th century.
The abyss of life itself.
I can never resist
peering in.
Can you?
This is where I found
the beetle the first time.
These are ancient
Perushi carvings.
What does it say?
"Through me, the road
to a city of desolation,
sorrows and lost creation.
Here lies death,
never to be disturbed.
Lay down all hope, you...
...that go in by me."
How quaintly melodramatic.
I do so love their
superstitions.
Superstitions that remarkably
resemble the truth.
Ash, I think we
should stop here.
Please, my friend,
I respect your fears.
But the 20th century
needs a cure.
And it could lie
behind this door.
Let's push.
A shrine to an ancient demon
they worshipped.
Balacau.
Listen.
I'll take that.
No!
- Thanks for your help.
- Ah!
Reinhardt,
secure the area.
Yes, sir!
You heard him! I want
to check supplies!
We secure the area,
then we move out!
Come on, let's go!
I haven't touched a thing
at the burial site.
I've gotten local tribes
to reset the stones the way
they supposedly were.
Judging by the carvings,
I'd say they're at least
2,000 years old.
- I think we're there.
We've got it.
It's beautiful.
You see, it's bones
are made of chitin.
Like an insect's exoskeleton.
This skeleton has gotten
the natives scared shitless.
Superstition,
it runs their lives.
They have no idea
what we have here.
With the DNA from the beetle
and this discovery,
we are there.
Meet the future, Mr. Azenfeld.
Say hello to Balacau.
- Mr. Ash?
- For me?
- Yes.
- Thank you.
I have something for you,
but I think it's in your...
- ...ear.
- Here you go.
Settle down!
Hang on, here you go.
Here you go.
For you. Here you go.
I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!
Be good!
- You want a hand with those?
- Uh, no thanks. I got it.
You pack kind of
heavy for a tourist.
Not much call for dressing
up around here, I'm afraid.
It's my work,
not a fashion show.
Well, if you're looking for
a doctor, I know a good one.
I am a doctor.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have to speak with someone.
- Nice to meet you too.
- Dr. Mattley,
you'd better come quick.
We've got another one.
When did this arrive?
The young native boy
brought the body here
about an hour ago.
It's a little girl.
You know him?
It's his sister.
They're from the Perushi tribe
way up river.
Oh! Oh, doctor.
It is the third body
this month.
It may
not be the last.
Clean incision
at the nape of the spine.
No muscle contusions.
Yet all the spinal and cerebral
fluids have been drained.
I guess you're not here
on vacation.
Uh... I apologize.
I didn't realize who you were.
I'm Dr. Claire Sommers.
I was sent here to look
into your problem.
- What's he saying?
- He's talking about
an ancient myth.
Balacau? Can you show us
where this happened?
I show you.
How do you
know about Balacau?
- It's just a local myth.
- Myth, Dr. Mattley?
Not according to Wessinger.
Dr. Carl Wessinger?
- He's dead.
- No, no. He's very much alive.
You see, he's been operating
a scientific research station
that we've funded
for almost two years now.
The problem is, three months
ago, he was on the brink
of a major breakthrough,
and we lost contact with him.
But he died in a cave
two years ago.
It was in all the papers.
No, see that's
the way he wanted it.
I believe you and he
have some... history together.
You led an expedition.
People died.
Maybe it's time to
set the record straight.
- Where the fuck is Wessinger?
We gotta transfer power
to the paddock now,
before this whole system
overloads!
Shut up! Shut up!
You hit it with that many volts,
we'll kill it for sure.
I don't give a fuck!
If it gets out again,
we're dead!
Breached the perimeter.
- It's moving in.
- Have you caught it yet?
No, sir. And we just had
a perimeter alarm tripped.
Good. The minute it gets inside,
I want the gates closed,
and the Tasers
and floor gates electrified.
- We'll have one chance.
Let's do it right!
Another alarm.
Here it comes.
- It's charging.
Now Throw the switch!
We've contained it.
A panther?
You imbeciles!
Do I have to do
everything myself?
So how many times
have you been in the jungle?
I've logged over 44 hours
of simulated jungle time.
The jungle is no place
for a city girl who's
played video games.
You shouldn't come.
Don't worry about me,
all right?
I can see this is
gonna be a world of fun.
Last time we heard from
Wessinger, he was somewhere
in the Adelphi Gorge.
You do know where
that is, don't you?
Sure.
- Tell me, Miss Sommers...
- Claire.
Tell me, Claire,
what sort of company
hires a man like Wessinger?
Wessinger's a... genius
in DNA replication.
He discovered a way to reanimate
an enzyme with incredible
medical byproducts.
Despite his somewhat
eccentric methods,
we figured the end
would justify the means.
And what exactly
were those means?
That's what we're here
to find out.
Matzu.
- What?
- Don't move.
Why, you're not give me
some cheesy line,
like, "You look beautiful
in the jungle light," are you?
- No. I was going to try a...
- Oh!
- "Don't move now,
but an anaconda's poised
to take your head off" line.
It always gets
the girl's attention.
I guess they don't have
those in the simulators.
I know we don't have much time.
The buyers get it in 24 hours,
or we're out of business!
We could try and bring
him to the ruins.
Well, what then?
We can't even catch it in
a steel-reinforced paddock,
- with 100,000 volts.
- We have a change of plans.
I'm bringing Reinhardt in.
- Ah!
All right, let's go.
Hey, get out of there!
Didn't your mother
ever teach you not to go
into a woman's bag?
- Put these on.
- What are you,
my fashion consultant?
Fine. I just don't wanna
spend half the day cutting
skin weevils and ticks
from parts of your body
you think are private.
I guess I could change.
Do you mind?
Matzu.
Uh-huh.
Standard issue
for doctors in the field?
"Be prepared"
is my company's motto.
This is the Perushi's village,
Matzu's people.
The other tribe
are Arandi, headhunters.
He said it was here,
and will return.
And now we're sent
to stop it.
I know this place.
I'll take you there.
This is Reinhardt,
coming in for refueling
and supplies.
En route to the Adelphi Gorge.
Here we are, guys!
Welcome to fucking paradise!
We gotta be airborne
in eight hours!
- Come on, let's go!
Everything's gonna be fine.
Couple of days,
you'll be running around.
I think it's time you told me
everything you know, Claire.
I've been working
with the Perushi people
for eight years now.
Sworn enemies unite
against a common evil.
Something's not right.
Wessinger first
came to the CIA
claiming he had discovered
the remains of an ancient
creature in the jungle.
We had our own motives
for funding him.
Then things began
to go wrong.
The experiment
became... unstable.
Unstable?
Wessinger began contacting
foreign governments
to see the creature
as a weapon of war.
Balacau is like
no other creature we've seen.
He's far more powerful
and aggressive,
virtually immune
to anything we've used
to try to control him.
We have to find his
new research station and
terminate this thing...
...permanently.
Something's coming.
Ash?
- Ah!
- Oh!
- Ah!
Come on! Ah!
Ah!
You all right?
Good throw.
Come on, we have to go.
This is Reinhardt
leaving depot.
ETA to Adelphi Gorge
eight hours.
I'm sending out our
coordinates to my team.
Looks like their anxious
to keep people out.
Or in.
Maybe there's a way to get over.
- Count me out.
- Too tough for you?
Too slow.
Standard magnetic lock.
Shouldn't take long.
Looks like someone
left here in a hurry.
What the hell
happened here?
This is chromium steel.
This is some form
of an incubation tank.
Sorry.
Whatever happened...
it was recent.
- Ash.
It's a log detailing
Wessinger's experiments.
That's how he cloned the DNA
"Tests show that life form
is highly sensitive to loud
noise and bright lights."
"His capacity for motion
detection is highly developed."
This is how he
recreated the structural mass
of the creature.
- Whoa, whoa, back up a second.
- What?
It's an anatomical chart.
- So?
- So look at the primary
organ structures.
The configuration.
There's no creature
with anything
remotely resembling this.
At least not on this planet.
So Wessinger has
reanimated an alien.
Looks that way.
This is the last entry.
He's trying to clone it.
Something went wrong and it
escaped into the jungle.
They lured it back
into the station.
- That's the last thing
they entered.
So it's still here.
Where's Matzu?
- Matzu!
Ah!
Ah!
It's the structure
on the computer chart.
It's not him.
Come on.
- What is that?
Help, Dr. Ash!
Something's in here
with us.
I can't see anything!
Just keep moving.
- Where's it coming from?
I'm not sure.
Help, Dr. Ash!
Come on, come on!
For Christ's sake, Ash,
it's coming!
Ash!
Come on!
Getting a little testy,
isn't he?
It's good to see you again,
too, Ash.
They say God is dead.
That he choked to death
with pity for mankind.
- What do you think, Ash?
- You think you're God?
Ash, don't.
That's it, Ash.
You were always very smart.
The problem is our limited
understanding of the true nature
of mankind.
If you mean that mankind
is greedy, arrogant and sick,
I think I've learned that
from you, doctor.
Don't you have any idea
what you've done here?
I have created
a scientific miracle!
- Pardon us if we don't clap.
- Some fucking miracle,
Wessinger!
The only miracle
is that we're not all dead!
The thing's killed
everybody else.
You created a monster
that takes human life.
And you're waiting
for a fucking medal.
Now I see everybody
speaking up!
Well, let's just
make one thing clear.
This is not
Face Thefucking Nation.
Dr. Ash!
Dr. Ash! Dr. Ash!
I told you this
was gonna happen.
Did you listen to me? No.
You're too busy thinking
about the money you'd make.
Hatton, your constant sniveling
is becoming a bore!
You're insane.
You killed those people
just as sure as if you did
- with your own hands!
- What was that?
- Power generator.
Must have got damaged.
- It's not gonna hold
for much longer.
- And the fence?
The fence... Without
the backup generator,
you can forget about it.
Then there's nothing between
it and the jungle, right?
No.
Look, we gotta get
out of here soon.
Unless I report that the
situation is under control,
there's a government
evac team on their way
here to neutralize it,
and everything else
that breathes.
No alternative housing.
So finally they've found me.
Believe me, I've been
expecting them for a long time.
We have to get that backup power
running to contain it.
We need to get
to the generator.
No way. I ain't
going back out there.
- No one asked you to.
- What other choice--
- Hold on!
- Claire, I'm here!
- It's Matzu.
- We have to help him.
- Hey, whoa!
Whoa, that thing might be
right outside the door.
We can't risk our lives
just because you wanna go
out there!
I mean, you know,
whatever happened
to democracy?
Democracy? Ask Wessinger.
OK. I'll get
the generator hooked up.
Loren, you go with them.
You and go as far
as controlling the Balacau,
and then we settle.
You understand?
Explicitly.
I'm staying right here.
Man, I'm not cut out
for this hero shit.
- That's obvious.
- Be careful, special agent.
Hatton, we have to keep
that fence lit.
There's no other option.
I'm here! Dr. Ash, I'm here!
Come on,
let's get this over with.
Switch the main line
over to backup.
- Where?
- There!
Yeah, right. There.
- I... I found it!
- Congratulations.
Now just trip the switch.
- Shoot it!
- Goddamn it!
- Kill it!
- Now!
Help, Dr. Ash!
Matzu! Matzu!
- Thank God!
- I'm OK.
- Is there a way down?
A service duct maybe?
Come on, there must
be some way! Think!
The only thing is the hydraulic
work plate in the main lab.
- Tell the kid to keep
crawling that way.
- OK.
- Come on!
- You're doing great!
Just keep going straight,
all right?
- Where?
- The opening's over there.
You're wasting your time.
It's got hydraulic locks.
- I'll try and override it
through the main grid.
- Just hurry!
I've accessed the control bank.
There must be a safety override
loop in the programming
I can bypass.
I think I saw a bypass
in the E drive.
Matzu, up here!
- Loren, please tell me
you found it!
- I'm close!
The code is jumbled
from all the power surges.
Almost there!
Here it comes!
Accessing bypass!
- Here it is!
Keep going!
Come on, baby!
- OK, lock it up!
- There must be a bug!
Close it up!
- Oh!
Get your exit
points sealed down! Clean sweep!
Move out!
On the double!
First team, go in
through the front!
Second team, the back!
Go, go!
- What's going on here?
- Reinhardt, you're late.
Let's go.
So my good friends
at the CIA sent you, huh?
- You really should choose your
company more carefully!
- Bastard!
They know where I am.
- Enough.
She talks too much,
don't you think?
- What are you doing?
- Shut up.
You have to destroy that thing.
You'll never control it.
Don't tell me what I am
and what I'm not capable of.
I took your miserable research
and elevated it to a status
of purity and perfection.
I have harnessed
the power and knowledge
of an alien civilization!
So please, don't
tell me what to do.
It annoys me.
You're fucking insane.
- Maybe.
- Why?
- Shut up.
Or would you like
to join your friends?
I didn't think so.
Do not even leave
a paper clip behind
for them to trace my work.
Now...
Balacau will move in
on our friends here.
There's one central passageway
out of the drainage feed,
and a vertical shaft here.
We need to seal the grills
here and here.
Then we can lower the trap.
Balacau has a light snack,
we hoist him up,
and we're out of here.
I can't hold on!
- I...
What are you going
to do with Balacau?
You told me we had contracts
with the government
and medical companies.
Ha! Do you think
I would turn this over
to the government?
You think they will use it
for curing disease
as we know it?
They will use it
for the same thing
that I will.
I've got dozens of arms traders
and heads of state
of every pathetic
little country with a gripe.
Just imagine a Balacau
on the battlefield.
A biological weapon
is dropped and Balacau
can run through the streets
cleaning up the diseased
and killing the fortunate few
who aren't contaminated.
- It's invincible.
- You never said anything
about using it as a weapon.
Think of the millions
of people that will die.
It's a deterrent, you idiot.
Did Oppenheimer stop to ask
himself the moral implications
of nuclear fusion?
Of course not.
I'm just a simple supplier.
I've a product to sell.
Sorry to shatter your ideology.
But that's the great
American game: capitalism.
And he who pays wins.
Hang on to the grates.
- I'll be right back.
- Where?
Hold your breath.
I was crazy to think
we were halfway civilized.
Weapons make civilizations.
Don't you see?
From the Romans
with the legions,
to our ballistic missiles.
He who has the biggest stick
can then enjoy the luxury
of a civilization.
The ladder!
He was right.
You are insane.
Oh, really?
Well, my fine friend,
since you brought it up,
I'll take Civilizations
for 100, Alex.
The Song Dynasty
of the 11th century
heralds what as the
their greatest achievement?
I... don't know.
What is... gunpowder?
- Ah!
- Bait for the cage.
Wait here,
I'll be right back.
Passageway ten secured.
- Ready?
I can override the detonators
with this.
Are we on schedule?
B Team, what's your status?
Final grill sealed.
Let's get the
cage winch down.
- I'll be right back.
- What's wrong?
Nothing.
- Lower it in.
- Please, listen.
- Don't do this, please.
- Cheer up, Loren.
Perhaps our friend
is on a diet.
Let me know when it shows.
I'd hate to miss any of the fun.
Please!
Come on, this way.
Cover me.
- Ah!
- You hear that?
- What?
Check it out.
- What the fuck is going on?
Tack, that you?
Identify!
Hey, I got something
over here.
Please!
Help me!
Hang on, I'll be right back!
Hurry!
I think it's here!
Anyone or anything that
comes out of that building,
shoot the barrel.
- Yeah, no problem.
- And don't forget to duck.
We've got him.
I, uh... I thought I was gonna
make the history books.
Let's just get out of here
before we become history.
- Claire!
- Hang on!
Other way!
- Shoot them!
Ugh!
Dr. Ash! Look out!
Matzu!
For you, Dr. Ash.
Get me a gun.
We can all make it.
- Shit!
- You all go.
I'll take care of this.
All right.
Ready? Out the door.
By the numbers.
One, two, three!
- Looks like
you're out of bullets.
- We'll see about that.
No!
Ah!
Shit!
The other helicopter!
Come on, let's go.
Come on. Go, go, go!
The boat!
The boat, over here!
Come on, sit down, sit down!
Come on, Ash,
they're coming!
Go around again!
Don't move.
It's all right.
- Matzu!
- Matzu!
How you doing?
OK.
You're welcome.
Let's go.
Come on.
I must warn my people.
He'll come for them.
What is it?
We're being followed.
I don't hear anything.
- Ah!
Ah!
No!
God!
Matzu, I'm sorry.
It is time.
Poison from the beetle
will slow it down.
You must stop it, Ash.
- Ah!
- Oh!
- Ash!
- Ash, the axe!
Here, Ash!
Ash!
Better late than never.
I've only got a few weeks'
paperwork left, and then
I'm out of excuses.
Maybe we can find some more.
Maybe.