The Ghost and the Darkness

Those who read here on the regular are more than well aware of my fondness for Val Kilmer as an actor. In THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS we see him in the role Col. John Henry Patterson, a construction engineer charged with the task of building a railway bridge in East Africa in the late 1890's. As unlikely a part as any for Kilmer to be cast in, it is a true joy to watch what he does with the character. When two lions with a taste for human flesh halt the project, big game hunter Charles Remington, as played by Michael Douglas, is brought in to save the day. There are many undercurrents at work here and I will allow you to discover them for yourself. Just as strange as Kilmer in this role is director Stephen Hopkins branching away from his standard horror/science fiction genre. He does a stellar job on all accounts. Based on a true story, the lions, who deserve equal billing as the stars of this film, are apparently on display to this day in some museum in Chicago.
On a sidebar, while rewatching this I was struck by the uncanny likeness of actor Tom Wilkinson to the late Roger C. Carmel who portrayed Harry Mudd in STAR TREK THE ORIGINAL SERIES. As Mudd was left on a planet of replicating robots with the ability to perfectly mimick human forms I thought it might be interesting to bring Wilkinson in on some future STAR TREK project to reprise the character who was always a fan favorite. Just a thought.