Val Kilmer (R.I.P.) is John Patterson, an Irish engineer who is hired to build a bridge in Africa, a continent that he always dreamed of going to.
He takes the train to where the railroad stops and where the bridge should be built. There is an entire village of workers which are both of African and Indian descent. Patterson soon gets the situation in order and things go remarkably according to plan. There are some problems though.
The main problem is that the camp is constantly attacked by a lion who drags away workers in the night. Patterson shoots it on his first day, but soon again workers are dragged out of the camp at night. Workers start to leave the camp out of fear. Patterson comes up with different plans to deal with the situation, but all to no avail.
Then Charles Remington (Michael Douglas) is hired, a lion-hunter who works with a local tribe. By then it is clear that there are actually two lions and not just any. They are so cunning and ruthless that they are nicknamed The Ghost and The Darkness.
The film is a descent look into clashing cultures of past times and the mysterious lion attacks make the film into a thriller of sorts.
