The Ghost and the Darkness

Starring: Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Mortimer
Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama, Horror
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 4

Summary: An engineer (Val Kilmer) travels to Africa to build a bridge. There, his workers are attacked by two man-eating lions, whom the villagers call the Ghost and the Darkness. The two lions have almost a supernatural ability to evade capture or death, so a legendary hunter (Michael Douglas) is brought in to stop their bloody rampage.

Review:

Tim: I've always been a huge fan of this movie. The story is exciting, powerful, and based (probably loosely) on a true story. I love the setting, the landscape is beautiful, and two man-eating lions that seemingly cannot be killed sounds very exciting to me.

The film does a great job of balancing the lion attacks with drama and character development. We actually do care about Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas' characters. Rooting for them invests us emotionally in the movie, which also makes us very, very nervous.

Kilmer and Douglas both do a good job in their respective roles. They interact extremely well together, making a terrific team. Douglas especially gives a memorable performance, and you can't help but like him.

This is a nerveracking, exciting film. It is an incredible action adventure/horror movie in the vein of Joseph Conrad or Rudyard Kipling. I have been a huge fan of this movie for years, and I highly recommend it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8



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