OK so the movie had no big stars (that I recall), an I believe I saw it on HBO in the early 80s. It may even have been a made-for-TV movie though I think it might have been from a time before even HBO could produce it’s own material.
It was one of those “based on a true story” type films - a family is living in an isolated estate somewhere in (presumably) Africa, and their ranch-house is beset by a pack of man-eating lions. Evidently the pack had tasted human flesh somewhere, developed a liking for it, and then decided to go after more people. So they lay siege to the house, which of course has no phone lines, and the family is trapped there for days.
(NOTE - I could be wrong about it being in Africa, although I can’t think of how so many lions could possibly be roaming around freely anywhere else - especially if they were eating people. The family was all thoroughly lily whitebread and their ranch-house looked quite luxurious for a house that might exist on the African midland plains.)
I remember the last third of the movie the best: the teenaged daughter and her boyfriend (who just conveniently got trapped with the family) are necking in one of the bedrooms and WHAM! the male lion pf the pack bursts through a window! The kids of course run out of the room and the family barricade the doors, but the rest of the pack all stalk in and make themselves at home inside the room to the sound of African drum music.
The family - who have up until this point been sitting around waiting to be rescued - realize they have to make a getaway, before the lions break into the rest of the house. The family car is far across the front yard of the estate grounds, but they begin constructing a makeshift moving cage to shield them for their eventual trek to the car.
While they are building it, a family friend comes to visit. He drives up near the house (not seeing the lions for some reason), gets out of his car and starts walking toward the front door. The family all gather at the front window and try to warn him away. No dice, as the male of the pack leaps on him and tears him to shreds.
The family is devastated to see it, but none more so than the mother who takes it hardest. She goes into a room alone to cry, and hears a “mrrrow” from behind her. She spins around to see one of a female lion in the room with her. The mother flips out and starts throwing things at the lion, attacking it, until her husband rushes to the rescue and pulls her out of the room.
At this point, the lion pack decide enough is enough and start breaking into the rest of the house en masse. The family all scramble under their makeshift defense cage that is only about 3 ft. high, so they all have to literally crawl out the front door, down the front step, and across the yard to their car. The lions all stalk the cage, climb all over it, and attempt to scratch, bite and tear at the family. The family however make it to the car, then drive away - and that is the end of the movie.
Ring a bell anybody?
