Review of The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) by Keegan T — 23 Dec 2009

There has been a lot of discussion of this movie lately, so I thought I'd go back and review it. Here you are.

The Ghost and the Darkness is about a pair of lions in the 1890's Africa. The lions are slaughtering railroad workers, and a British representative (Val Kilmer) is sent to take charge. But when the lions become too tough to handle, they call in a professional hunter (Michael Douglas).

This movie is way under-praised. I honestly can't think of a movie like this that had a decent plot. This has an excellent plot, and I consider it to be the best animal/monster movie ever made. The performance and character of Michael Douglas are both amazing. The suspense is genuine, the lions are terrifying, the dialogue is great and accurate, and best of all; you're going to love this: It's based on a fucking true story. Not one of these "borrow the idea and overdo it" things either. These lions actually killed 100+ people. That scares the shit out of you. For great performances, fine action/suspense, a great cast, and being a genuinely spooky "who's hunting whom?" true story, I give The Ghost and the Darkness 8 buckets of blood out of 10. See it on your action/gore night.