Ash Mattley (Mark Dacascos), a doctor in a small village deep in the jungles of Borneo, is approached by another scientist, Carl Wessinger (Jürgen Prochnow) regarding his studies of an enzyme found in a rare beetle. With the aid of Mattley and a group of natives, Wessinger secures several of the beetles, but then betrays his team and leaves them behind in a cave. Later, Wessinger uncovers a fossil in the jungle, but the natives in his new team fall in fear and worship before the deceased creature, which they call "Balakai."