The Ghost and The Darkness - Plot

Plot

In 1896, Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson), the primary financier of a railroad project in Tsavo, Kenya, is furious because the project is running behind schedule. He seeks out the expertise of John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer), a military engineer, to get the project back on track. Patterson travels by train to Tsavo, where he meets supervisors Angus Starling (Brian McCardie) and Samuel (John Kani), a native African (and the film's narrator), and the doctor, David Hawthorne (Bernard Hill). Hawthorne tells Patterson of a recent lion attack. That night, Patterson kills an approaching lion with one shot, earning the respect of the workmen. The project gets back on schedule. However, not long afterwards Mahina (Henry Cele), the construction foreman, is dragged from his tent in the middle of the night. His half-eaten body is found the next morning. Patterson then attempts a second night-time lion hunt, but the next morning another worker is found dead at the opposite end of the camp from Patterson's position.

Patterson's only comfort now is the letters he receives from his wife. Soon, while the workers are gathering wood and building firepits around the tents, a lion attacks the camp in the middle of the day and while Patterson, Starling and Samuel are tracking the lion to one end of the camp as it feeds on a worker, another one surprises them when it jumps down from the roof of a building, surprising the men as it kills Sterling by slashing his throat and injuring Patterson, who attempts to kill them, but they both escape. Samuel explains that there has never been a pair of man-eaters before because they are always alone. The men, led by Abdullah (Om Puri), begin to turn on Patterson due to the lion attacks. The men dub the lions "the Ghost and the Darkness" because of their notorious methods of attack. Work is stopped on the bridge to fight the lions. Beaumont visits the camp and tells Patterson he will ruin his reputation should the bridge not be built on time. He tells Patterson he will contact the famous hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas) to help. All of Patterson's attempts to kill the lions have failed at this point.

Later, Remington arrives with skilled Maasai warriors to help kill the lions. Their initial attempt fails when a gun Patterson borrowed from Dr. Hawthorne misfires. The warriors decide to leave, but Remington offers to stay to help Patterson. Remington builds a new hospital for all the lion victims, and attempts to draw the lions to the old one by covering it with animal parts. The lions, however, outsmart Remington and attack the new hospital, killing many patients and Hawthorne. Abdullah and the rest of the men soon leave, leaving Patterson, Remington, and Samuel alone with the lions. Patterson and Remington eventually locate the lions' lair where they find the bones of dozens of the lions' victims. That night, Remington kills one of the lions by using Patterson and a baboon as bait. The next morning, Patterson finds the remaining lion has dragged Remington from his tent and killed him; Patterson cremates his body on an open pyre where he died. Grief-stricken over Remington's death and now desperate to end the bloodshed, Patterson decides to burn the tall grass surrounding the camp in order to drive the lion towards the camp where he hopes to ambush it.

Patterson and Samuel are soon attacked by the beast on the partially constructed bridge. After a long fight, Patterson kills the lion outside of camp. Abdullah and the men return, and the bridge is completed on time. The film ends with a narration by Samuel, where he says the lions are now on display at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, and that even today "if you dare lock eyes with them, you will be afraid."