Based on the real life account of two lions that terrorized a rail road camp in late 19th century Africa, Stephen Hopkins' "The Ghost and the Darkness" is a tension-rich, old fashioned adventure. Colonel John Henry Patterson.Kilmer’s character goes to Tsavo, Kenya to help a railroad company with a “Wild Life” problem where workers are being attacked by two Lions. The Lions of Tsavo. Museum staff restored the lions to their former glory—minus the appetite—by mounting them as taxidermy specimens and displaying them in a diorama. The story is a fictionalized account of the Tsavo Man-Eaters , two Tsavo lions that attacked and killed workers at Tsavo , Kenya during the building of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in East Africa in 1898. The door opens and walking through the dark halls is a man in uniform. The Lions of Tsavo. In Tsavo, male lions do not share power with other males. The lions are seen mostly in close up when they do most of their damage, attacking and killing the rail workers. The Ghost(right) and the Darkness(left) were the threat animals of the 1996 action/adventure/thriller film The Ghost and the Darkness. The Ghost and the Darkness is a 1996 American historical adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The main attraction at the end of this plunge into nature is presented to us by the lions of Tsavo. Mostly known and recognized for the 1997 movie “The Ghost and the Darkness”, these two lions are legendary. Their prides, with up to 10 females and just 1 male, are smaller than Serengeti lion prides, which have up to 20 females and 2 or more males. This page is about one of the greatest incidents of … and their story begins in 1898, when the British started building a … The Ghost(right) and the Darkness(left) were the threat animals of the 1996 action/adventure/thriller film The Ghost and the Darkness. The Tsavo Man-Eating Lions or The Ghost and the Darkness, the true story! In 1996 moviegoers’ evolutionary ancestral fear of humans being prey to an apex predator was put on display in the film ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’, a historical action horror film that starred Val Kilmer as Lt. Updated 10-19-2004 Email address updated.. The screenplay was written by William Goldman . While this exhibit is only one of thousands of beautiful, infinitely interesting specimens on display at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, I found none as captivating as The Tsavo Lions, notorious for their attacks on railroad workers in Kenya's arid Tsavo region in 1898. Instead of seeing lions, though, we hear a slight growl as we see the title of the film: The Ghost and the Darkness. After this, the camera cuts to a building and there’s a bit of text on screen to let us know we’re in London in the year 1898. But the few scenes where the lions do fully expose themselves, like the dream-like attack on Col. Patterson's wife and son, are truly heart-stopping and as good as anything you'd see a like-wise animal attack film. In addition to Patterson’s written account, several movies are based on his tale of the man-eating lions, including The Ghost and the Darkness. With its lovely savannah vistas, rousing score, and engaging characters, the film is fully appealing. The lions known as the Ghost and the Darkness were unlike any other lions previously observed. Man-eaters as a rule are rare, but these lions seemed to kill for the actual pleasure of it - something unheard of and never before documented. The lions are seen mostly in close up when they do most of their damage, attacking and killing the rail workers. While this exhibit is only one of thousands of beautiful, infinitely interesting specimens on display at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, I found none as captivating as The Tsavo Lions, notorious for their attacks on railroad workers in Kenya's arid Tsavo region in 1898. But the few scenes where the lions do fully expose themselves, like the dream-like attack on Col. Patterson's wife and son, are truly heart-stopping and as good as anything you'd see a like-wise animal attack film.