The Ghost and the Darkness

DirectorStephen Hopkins
Year1996
Running Time109 mins
StarringMichael Douglas as Remington
Val Kilmer as John Patterson
Written byWilliam Goldman


It is 1898 and the charming Captain of Industry Beaumont has hired Colonel John Patterson to complete a bridge spanning the river by Tsavo, Africa. However there are countless problems to be overcome: Competing French and German rivals, Ethnic hatred among the crews and, on Patterson's first day there, a worker is attacked by a lion. He goes to "sort it out" by shooting the beast with one shot; gaining the admiration of his crews, lifting spirits, adding motivation to complete the bridge, and unleashing a nightmare

Only weeks after the shooting the camp is suddenly besieged by a pair of giant man-eating lions. Their first "kill" is Mahina, considered the strongest man in the camp. This serves to unnerve every man on the project, including Abdullah, who doesn't like Patterson from the start. Nerves jangle and fray as the lions repeatedly and relentlessly attack and attack and attack! They strike under the cover of night and during the heat of the day; They kill not for hunger, not for sport, but simply because they like it. Men are dragged from their beds and mauled to death in the tall grass; the hospital becomes a blood-bath; Laborers aren't safe as the beasts leap out and snatch them from their work. Everything is falling apart and Patterson is at his wit's end as Beaumont arrives to make matters worse. And still the lions attack and attack and attack. Can the arrival of a big game hunter save the project.

This is a very suspenseful, well made film based on a true story.


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Media | Silver Screen


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by Stephen Luscombe