Colonel John Henry Patterson has just been hired By Robert Beaumont to oversee the building of a railroad bridge in order to help with the ivory trade. Patterson has always dreamed of the dark continent and wanted to see the exotic wildlife and lands, the dream will quickly turn into a nightmare as two rogue lions begin to terrorize the workers under Patterson's authority. As the lions hunt and feed off of the workers, the body count quickly rises to over 50. Beaumont, enraged that work has stopped, sends in renowned hunter Charles Remington to help Patterson with the lions. Based on actual events, The Ghost and the Darkness is a truly engaging tale of hunters and prey.

This is a very well done film from top to bottom. Great story, excellent suspense, incredible effects, hardcore gore and a tremendous cast all make The Ghost and the Darkness a must see.

Val Kilmer stars as Patterson and Micheal Douglas enters the fray as Remington, both do excellent jobs and make the characters believable and likeable. Both actors work well off of one another and you can feel the friendship. There is also the loyal guide Samuel, the young and eager Angus Starling and the crotchety old Dr. Hawthorne to add to the characters in the film, and the diet of the lions.

The lion effects are great and there is only one time I could tell when CGI was being used, most of the times the actors are interacting with real lions. The blood also flows freely as the lions snack on just about everything in sight. The best being when the two huge cats attack a makeshift tent hospital in the middle of the night.

Although based on a true story, the film will have you saying "No way" and "That couldn't happen" but that is part of the beauty as the lions go from predators to demon like in their behavior. This one is fun to watch and worth multiple viewings in my opinion, if your a fan of animal flicks this one is top notch, or if your a fan of big pussy movies you can either watch this or anything Rosie O'Donnel has ever been in.

8 of 10