The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Directed by Stephen Hopkins. Starring Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas, John Kani, Om Puri, Bernard Hill, Brian McCardie, Tom Wilkinson, Henry Cele, Emily Mortimer. [R]

In Tsavo, Kenya near the end of the nineteenth century, a pair of man-eating lions ravage the ranks of native and Indian workers building a railroad bridge for the British Empire, killing over a hundred men in the span of less than a year. Arising to try and stop their attacks are an Irish engineer with a wavering accent named John Patterson (Kilmer), and a grizzled and greasy great white hunter named Remington (Douglas). William Goldman was dutifully critical of his adaptation of the book “The Man-eaters of Tsavo” (penned by the real-life Patterson), which suffers from a plodding “white savior”/“noble savage” treatment whether on the hunt or at the base camp, and laughably ominous dialogue—e.g., “Lions don’t do this…they’re doing it for the pleasure.” However, the film looks good (photographed in South Africa by Vilmos Zsigmond) and suspense is generated at a few intervals. Oscar winner for Sound Effects Editing.

55/100