Deadly Species (2002)

Wilson Friels, a wealthy big-game hunter, funds an expedition deep in the Florida Everglades to search for a lost tribe of Native Americans, the Calusa. He hires Brinson Thomas, a local archaeologist professor, and his wife Marta Thomas to lead the trip. Together, along with their student assistants, Todd, Nichelle, Lori and Allison, they set out on what appears to be an innocent fact-finding exploration of the jungle. Soon, the team comes upon the deserted campsite of a previous expedition. Confusion turns to terror when they discover the remains of several members of the previous team, presumably torn apart by a wild animal. Alison finds a journal kept by the explorers revealing Wilson Friels as the one who funded their expedition. Friels comes clean and admits that he funded both expeditions. His intention was not to search for the Calusa, but to search for the Fountain of Youth found in their folklore, as well as the mythical lost species of beast that is the guardian of the fountain. By then, the mysterious and blood thirsty creature has started systematically stalking and killing each of them. The team is forced to make their stand against the creature, and try to kill it before it kills them. Brinson survives an attack by the creature and begins to metamorphose into a creature himself. His only hope is to drink some of the healing waters from the legendary fountain, if it does indeed exist. Now, the remaining members of the team venture further into the jungle to find the spring. Ultimately, they must figure out the terrible truth behind the Calusa Legend... if any of them are going to get out alive!