The Ghost and the Darkness

Plot synopsis:
In 1898, Sir Robert Beaumont, the primary financier of a railroad project in Tsavo, Kenya, is furious because the project is running behind schedule. He seeks out the expertise of Lt. Colonel John Henry Patterson, a British military engineer, to get the project back on track. Patterson travels from England to Tsavo, telling his wife, Helena, he will complete the project and be back in London for the birth of their son. He meets British supervisor Angus Starling, Kenyan foreperson Samuel, and Doctor David Hawthorne. Hawthorne tells Patterson of a recent lion attack that has affected the project.
That night, Patterson kills an approaching lion with one shot, earning the respect of the workers and bringing the project back on schedule. However, not long afterwards, Mahina, the construction foreperson, is dragged from his tent in the middle of the night. His half-eaten body is found the next morning. Patterson then attempts a second night-time lion hunt, but the following morning, another worker is found dead at the opposite end of the camp from Patterson's position.
Patterson's only comfort now is the letters he receives from his wife. Soon, while the workers are gathering wood and building fire pits around the tents, a lion attacks the camp in the middle of the day, killing another worker. While Patterson, Starling and Samuel are tracking it to one end of the camp, another lion leaps upon them from the roof of a building, killing Starling with a slash to the throat and injuring Patterson. Despite the latter's efforts to kill them, both lions escape. Samuel states that there has never been a pair of man-eaters; they have always been solitary hunters. The workers, led by Abdullah, begin to turn on Patterson. Work on the bridge comes to a halt. Patterson requests soldiers from England to protect the workers, but is denied. During a visit to the camp, Beaumont tells Patterson he will ruin his reputation if the bridge is not finished on time and that he will contact the famous hunter Charles Remington to help because Patterson has been unable to kill the animals.
Remington arrives with skilled Maasai warriors to help kill the lions. They dub the lions "the Ghost" and "the Darkness" because of their notorious methods of attack. The initial attempt fails when Patterson's borrowed gun misfires. The warriors decide to leave, but Remington stays behind. He constructs a new hospital for sick and injured workers and tempts the lions to the abandoned building with animal parts and blood. When the lions fall for the trap, Remington and Patterson shoot at them; they flee and attack the new hospital, killing many patients and Dr. Hawthorne. Abdullah and the construction men leave, and only Patterson, Remington, and Samuel remain behind to face the marauders. Patterson and Remington locate the animals' lair, discovering the bones of dozens of the lions' victims. That night, Remington kills one of the pair by using Patterson and a baboon as bait. The workers celebrate, though later Patterson dreams about his wife and infant son visiting him in Tsavo, only for them to be killed by the remaining lion before he can get to them.
Waking from his nightmare the next morning, Patterson discovers that the remaining lion has dragged Remington from his tent and killed him; Patterson and Samuel cremate Remington's corpse on a pyre at the spot where he died. Grief-stricken and desperate to end the carnage, the two men burn the tall grass surrounding the camp, driving the surviving lion toward the camp (and the ambush they set there). The lion attacks Patterson and Samuel on the partially constructed bridge and after a lengthy fight, Patterson finally kills it. Abdullah and the construction workers return, and the bridge is completed on time.
The film ends with Patterson's wife arriving with their son, and a narration by Samuel, who informs the audience that the lions are now on display at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Even today, he says, "If you dare lock eyes with them, you will be afraid".

Tags: revenge, violence

Review:
...Well according to Hollywood anyway, since "The Ghost and the Darkness" actually takes lots of liberties with its story, about the two man-eating lions of Tsavo.
In fact the main part of the movie is being played by Val Kilmer, who plays his character in a way like we're used of him; a humble way and he doesn't try too hard to impress in his role, which also leaves room for the other actors to shine and of course allows the story to be told best.
A good surround system doesn't hurt here, either.Stan Winston, one of the best special-effects men in the business, lent his talents to this film while Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas are more than adequate in the starring roles and the African with the freckles (sorry, I don't have his name) is really a likeble fellow.Except for the first one, the lion attack scenes are not gruesome and the filmmakers did a nice job a having just the right amount of action and lulls.
It's during that reign of terror the Tasvo Lions, weighing some 500 pounds each, lived or dined almost exclusively on human flesh.The film starts with Irish engineer Col. John Patterson, Val Kilmar, sent to Kenya by his British overseer, or boss, the pompous and all full of himself the future Sir, hoping that he'll be knighted by the Queen, Robert Beaumont, Tom Wilkerson.
The killings go on unabated and it's when one of the local native leaders Mahina, Danny Cele, is dragged out of his tent and eaten by the lions the rail workers just refused to go back out and lay tracks, to build the bridge, over the Tasvo River.Being like phantoms more then lions the killer cats are immune to anything that Col. Patterson and his native guide Samuel, John Kani, can come up with in both trapping and killing the two giant felines.
It's then out of sheer desperation that the "I've never been wrong in all my life" Robert Beaumont, it must have taken a lot out of his giant ego, hires big game hunter Charles Remington, Michael Douglas, to do the job, kill the Tasvo Man-eaters, that nobody including Col. Patterson can seem to do.
***SPOILER*** Remington who after failing to put down the killer cats with both Col. Patterson and Samuels' help goes out on his own, without Col. Patterson's knowledge, only to end up becoming the Tasvo Man-eaters next victim and meal.Far better then many of it's critics and detractors say it is "Ghost and the Darkness" does have it's share of shocks and thrills despite not having the benefit, like similar movies like "Jaws", of having any real and state of the art special effects.
There's only one scene where there's a mechanical or fake lion, like the shark in "Jaws", in the movie and that was about the most ineffective scene in which the killer cats attacked in the entire film.
But the few scenes where the lions do fully expose themselves, like the dream-like attack on Col. Patterson's wife and son, are truly heart-stopping and as good as anything you'd see a like-wise animal attack film.P.S The notorious Tasvo Lions have been said to have become man-eaters because of an epidemic that killed off most of their food, gazelles zebra and wildebeests, in the area or their hunting grounds.
Michael Douglas's Remington, dispossessed of  home and family in the American civil war, is an interesting character, but it's Kilmer's British bridge-builder in a time where engineers had to know how to shoot tigers and manage Hindu-Muslim conflicts fully as much as how to put up their structures, who is the focus of the film, and rightly so.
That site states that Patterson killed both lions (on two separate occasions).I am inclined to think that the info there is historical and true.Does anyone know anything about Charles Remington ?Great movie.
Thrilling as well as handsome adventure story set in 1896 , dealing with of two man-eating lions , hunting together for sport rather than food , as they killed 130 people and nearly derailed the building of the East African Railway .
There is eventually formed a team between the brave engineer and a famous white hunter (Michael Douglas ,despite having top billing, he doesn't appear on screen until 45 minutes into the movie) but the legendary lions survive to kill and kill again ; as they still seem to have advantage until a frenziedly breathtaking last reel .
John Henry Patterson published a book about his adventures , titled "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" ; however , Michael Douglas' character Remington as a 'great white hunter' is fictionalized , while Val Kilmer's character John Patterson killed both lions .
So successful were these lions, that after killing over a hundred people, the Africans named them, 'The Ghost and the Darkness." A British royal engineer, one Col. John Henry Patterson was commissioned to construct a bridge over the Tsavo river.
The film which was made depicting the true story, stars Val Kilmer as Col. John Henry Patterson and is so well done, it is surprisingly real.
A story of Col. Patterson building a bridge over the river Tsavo in Africa, and fighting the couple of killer lions and builders scared to death.
It's an exercise I find myself doing every time a movie comes out - especially when the movie is supposedly based on fact.When I saw "The Ghost and the Darkness," I had already read "the Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo" and already seen the lions in the Field Museum.
The scenes with the lions are brutal, frightening and gory.Although this movie has an excellent cast, it is somewhat damaged by the sudden, awkward and embarrassing appearance of the Executive Producer of the film, Michael Douglas, who tries masquerading as a war-weary soldier-hunter, who is hell-bent on destroying these two man-eating lions.
His acting does improve as the movie progresses but his appearance in the film is gratuitous.Douglas's acting leaves a lot to be desired but the movie picks back up, undamaged, as Val Kilmer resumes the lead role again in hunting down these "devil-possessed" lions.
But this is denied and he has no option but to take action himself.Based on the book by J.H. Pattereon, entitled, "Man Eaters of Tsavo," the movie stars Val Kilmer as J.H. Patterson and Michael Douglas as Charles Remington.
This movie is a based on a true story about the man-eaters of Tsavo i like this movie very much i think story line was great and i think Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas did a great job its a great and 100 percent recommended if u haven't seen it yet go check it out guys its really one the best and have place on the list of my top 50 movies its really great some scenes are pretty scary man-eaters attacking the workers and dragged them out of their tents at night although Michael Douglas character was fictional but he did it very well and Val Kilmer the role Colonel John Patterson very its a great movie and i think best movie ever made about the man-eaters of Tsavo.
Set in 1898, 'The Ghost and the Darkness' is based on the true story of two lions in Africa that killed 130 people over a nine month period, while a bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter tried to kill them.
But the lions (called the Ghost and the Darkness by the workers) are smart, and disposing of them won't be easy even with Remington in league.This premise is based on a real-life account by John Patterson, and it was practically destined for a movie adaptation.
In the late 1800 its a story based on actual event regarding 2 man eaters of tsavo in Africa, who made a havoc but a great terrifying ordeal among the hearts of African and Indian slaves working under the command of imperial British empire in there.
Fact or fiction, this movie is worth a price of admission.Val Kilmer plays Col. Patterson, a brave Englishman who is sent by his greedy investor (Tom Wilkinson) to the wilds of Africa to supervise a long-delayed railroad construction.
After a series of failures, Patterson aids the help of fortune-seeking game hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas in top form) to stop the beasts in his old-fashioned but almost successful attempts.The film is simply a land-bound JAWS, complete with its characters and their attempts to stop the beast(/s).
This exciting film which featured magnificent cinematography in the African jungle and sound that set your teeth on edge, was memorable from start to finish.Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas made a great team as they hunted the lions.
The film is loosely based on the biographical account of Lt Col John Henry Patterson, played by Val Kilmer in the movie.
This legendary huntsman is clearly the equivalent of Jaws's Quint, but unfortunately Douglas OTT-acting doesn't even come close to matching Robert Shaw's performance.Despite the movie's obvious ambition to be a Jaws set in Africa (even down to the POV shots of the lions stalking their prey), I think lots of things work well.
Nice story set in Africa based on a real life story about a construction site in the Tsavo region terrorized by two African lions The story is nice Val Kilmer acts perfect as Paterson and Michael Douglas as Remington is good too the movie is nice, edging and scary i mean, after all, i believe that after been eaten by a great white shark think about been killed by a lion must be the second scariest thing...Really nice movie and, like i said, think that this was actually a real story it scares you more because "that happened" which means that nature can be truly scary...
Stephen Hopkins direction is good though hardly in the same class as David Lean , William Goldman has written a fairly good script though noit his best even if it does contain the line " God invented alcohol so the Irish wouldn`t rule the world " , we see a couple of British character actors like Tom Wilkinson and Bernard Hill lending weight to the proceedings and the audience are even shocked by Val Kilmar doing a passable Irish accent But then Hollywood decides this isn`t good enough for an international ( Read American ) audience and insert a completely made up character called Charles Remmington to save the natives from man eating lions .
Released in 1996 and directed by Stephen Hopkins from William Goldman's script, "The Ghost and the Darkness " is an African adventure based on the true events of two man-eating lions responsible for the deaths of scores of bridge construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway from March through December 1898.
The addition of Michael Douglas as a charismatic great white hunter, Remington, is fictional, as Patterson pretty much hunted and killed the rogue lions on his own.
It tries to draw the viewer in right from the beginning by claiming that everything that's depicted actually happens - except that if you've done any research on the history of the Tsavo lion attacks, you know that big parts of that claim are simply untrue - the biggest bit of "creative licence" being the creation of the Remington character - an American big game hunter played by Michael Douglas.There was no Remington - so why create him?
Stephen Hopkins directed this adventure film that stars Val Kilmer as Col. John Henry Patterson, who, in 1898 Africa, is in charge of building a bridge, but work is halted because two lions have been killing workers, and the locals believe the lions to be avenging tribal spirits.
The locations were amazing; the main theme score composed by Jerry Goldsmith was brilliant (a little bit wasted, could be used more here or in another film); some of the action scenes were great with the required amount of tension needed but other ones didn't worked at all (many of the attack scenes were unconvincible although real animals were used); the cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond was good and bad (the day light scenes were very good, he captured great things, but the night scenes was just like the title, too much darkness).
Well this is Hollywood's take on the story, as "The Ghost and the Darkness" (which the native workers labeled the two beasts) is a considerably haunting and hardy old-school colonial undertaking with excellent performances led by a competent Val Kilmer (who beams of respectable confidence as the construction engineer) and Michael Douglas (who pleasurably laps up the role as a scruffy big-game hunter with an memorable entrance).When I was a kid and first saw the movie trailer it just stuck with me.
This true story is very good.Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas and the rest of the cast is very good.The film is superb when it comes to the views of Africa and it is scary.There is one funny part too and I'll talk about that in a minute.To Me it was really wired why the Lions did what they did.The music by Jerryn Goldsmith is great!Now onto the funny part.I always laugh when Remington and Samuel were talking.It goes like this Charles Remington:I'm always considerate.
"The Ghost and the Darkness" tells the real life story of Col. John Henry Patterson, a British military engineer, hired to supervise the building of a bridge as part of a railroad project in Tsavo, Kenya, financed by the millionaire Sir Robert Beaumont.
Unable to solve the problem himself after several failed attempts, Patterson asks for the help of an expertized, Charles Remington, an african white hunter, but the task won't be easy to take...Michael Douglas is a renowned producer as much as an actor and he knows how to handle a movie, like hiring the right guys for their respective jobs: the legendary Vilmos Zsigmond to photograph the beautiful landscapes and local wildlife of the Songimvelo Game Reserve in South Africa (replacing Tsavo, Kenya where the action takes place); the underrated Stephen Hopkins, a director that always had a great sense of pace and visual style and the two times Oscar winner, the screenwriter William Goldman.Unfortunately, by the time this movie went into production, Douglas was infatuated by his own ego and at the last minute he opted to play the role of a fictitious character that was written as an obscure / eerie white hunter, only in an extended cameo, which the only purpose in the film was to enhance the heroic features of the real life Col. John Henry Patterson, played here by Val Kilmer.Douglas turned a 'special guest star' kind of role in a top billing credited above the lead character and appears in the movie after the 45 minutes mark, playing an extension of his iconic adventurer Jack Colton from "Romancing the Stone" and "The Jewel of the Nile", cracking jokes, being too loud, witty & OTT hammy and seriously harming the dark tone of the movie, especially if compared with the acting of his fellow actors.
The minor parts play it fairly well in their underdeveloped roles with Tom Wilkinson stealing the show as the despicable Sir Robert Beaumont, Col. John Henry Patterson's boss.The editing is a bit disjoint, it's rumored that Douglas cut almost 1 hour of the movie to give himself more screentime, and the movie clearly suffers from it, from noticeable plot holes to inevitable loose ends, but even with all its flaws, too much for its own good, why "The Ghost and the Darkness" is so re-watchable as an entertaining flick ?The reason behind that was Stephen Hopkins' mastering of inducing some kind of dreamlike atmosphere through it; his awareness of how suspense works and the well executed staging of some scenes (like the first hunting of Remington and Patterson together), enhancing the thrilling factor in perfect combo with the stunning backgrounds of Africa, attractively & virtuously captured by Vilmos Zsigmond's camera.In short, "The Ghost and the Darkness" could have been a great movie, had Douglas' restrained himself here (both as an actor and as a producer) and Kilmer needed the right timing.
Aside from some embellishments and Michael Douglas' character (who was fictitious), the events as described by the real Colonel Patterson are largely based on his memoir of his experience with the rogue lions and the trials he faced in managing railroad workers of different backgrounds to work together.In addition to the suspense and action that involves the lions, some of the best sequences involve the interactions among Patterson, Remington, and Samuel; All done with great dialogue.
Set in 1898, this movie is based on the true story of two lions in Africa that killed thirty-five people over a nine month period, while a bridge engineer (Val Kilmer) and an experienced old hunter (Michael Douglas) tried to kill them.I only recently (2015) became aware of the story of the two lions, who I believe are now housed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Even though not all the content is real, the idea as a whole is just shocking, and makes you question reality.The film tells a fictionalized account about the two lions that attacked and killed workers at Tsavo, Kenya during the building of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in East Africa in 1898.
Inspired by a true story, the film has plenty of action, gore, some very effective suspense and solid performances by Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas.
The Ghost and The Darkness was an excellent film about the true story of the building of a bridge being stopped by two man-eating lions.
The Ghost and the Darkness is based on a factual account of how a bridge building project in the Transvaal was brought to a halt by two man eating lions who killed over 120 people (although figures vary).I had known and was fascinated by the story beforehand and because of that I really enjoyed this film.
nature flick in which two men (Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas) try to fight off a lion killing people in Africa.