The Ghost and the Darkness is a stomach-churning adventure thriller set in East Africa in 1896 where the British are building a railroad to support the ivory trade. Col. John Patterson (Val Kilmer) takes on the challenge of building a bridge over the Tsavo River at the end of the line. The 3,000 African and Indian construction workers come to respect him when he kills with one shot a stray lion that has mauled a man and a donkey.
Soon, however, Patterson discovers that Africa will change everything he has planned. Over a two-month period, two new savage and cunning lions kill 130 men at the base camp. The Africans call these beasts "devils of the night — the ghost and the darkness" since, unlike other lions, they evidence no respect for fire, fences, guns, traps, or limits. Worse, they seem to kill not out of hunger but for pleasure.
Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), a legendary wild game hunter, arrives with a group of Masai warriors, but even these fierce men are awed by the two animal adversaries. When most of the African and Indian workers flee, all work is halted on the bridge. Patterson, a man of science, and Remington, a man who admits to having a gift for killing, prepare to square off against the seemingly invincible man-eating lions.
The Ghost and the Darkness is a brilliantly realized thriller directed by Stephen Hopkins, shot by Vilmos Zsigmond, scripted by William Goldman, and carried by the powerful music of Jerry Goldsmith. Africa and the lions provide us with an unforgettable primal encounter with the mysterious other.