Der Geist und die Dunkelheit (1996)

Der Geist und die Dunkelheit: Directed by Stephen Hopkins. With Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson, John Kani. A bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter begin a hunt for two lions after they start attacking local construction workers.

“True story, two lions killed a hundred railroad workers in east Africa in 1898. Col. Pattersson is sent from England to supervise the building of a bridge in Uganda across the Tsavo river. He ends up a bit over his head when the lions show up. He teams up with famed hunter Charles Remmington to bring down the cats from hell.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt wasnu0026#39;t until I heard what other people had to say that I realized that The Ghost in the Darkness is half way to a Jaws rip-off. But of course this is a real story. Iu0026#39;ve even seen the hides of the two lions preserved in Chicagou0026#39;s natural history museum. They were actually maneless, but for obvious reasons this film gives its killer fuzzballs the hunk hair which makes Lions stand out from any other cat. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI do know that cats are generally more aggressive than dogs towards people (because of their rogue personalities), but these lions are unnaturally ferocious. They are more monster than animal, which is the intended approach of course. Sometimes though it gets a little unbelievable. One scene in particular, involves the cats ambushing a dorm of about two dozen, all are killed. Regardless of their size or ferocity, are we supposed to believe that two lions can kill that many people in thirty seconds flat without one escaping. Itu0026#39;s a tent for god sakes. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are a few other problems with The Ghost and the Darkness. Tom Wilkinsonu0026#39;s performance is annoying. this is too lame a role for such a good actor. I didnu0026#39;t think Michael Douglas was that great either. He plays the role with too much Indiana Jones in him. A there are also a couple of scenes which are just playing goofy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn general though, The Ghost and the Darkness actually amounts to an entertaining monster movie. Iu0026#39;ll give the most credit to the animal trainers, because these lions give great performances. I wouldnu0026#39;t call it a scary movie but it certainly has its grizzly parts which might shake you up some. The Ghost and the Darkness bridges the gap between Thriller, horror, and adventure, and Iu0026#39;m pretty sure itu0026#39;ll give you what you want (assuming this is your kind of movie)”