"New Zealand's great dramatic story film! The most talked-about film in years!
“A daring, intimate look at the lives of young New Zealanders - an adult, exciting story of a man on the run- and the women in his life! Frank... and provocative!
“In the beginning it was only to escape... be he was a young man in a hungry hurry... his blood on fire... and he discovered that life is a mixture of good and evil... the passionate, desperate and lonely... and he meets them all... from the warm beaches of Northland to the ice-bound wilderness of Westland glaciers... the New Zealand you know... for the first time in a film that is compelling, intimate and brilliant entertainment!" - Original press publicity.
“Dissatisfied with his life in an office in Auckland, David Manning hitchhikes to Northland, getting a lift from a wealthy married woman, Laura Kossovich, with whom he has an affair. At their destination, Laura becomes jealous of David's interest in a young Maori woman called Isobel and they have a row. David takes off in Laura's car leaving Laura to report him to the police for assault and theft. David is now on the run. Accepting a lift with a middle-aged businessman, he has the misfortune to witness the man have a heart attack and die. Feeling in some way responsible, David conceals the body, steals the car and crosses Cook Strait. On the ferry, he meets Diana and persuades her to go bush with him in Westland. The police learn of their hideaway and in an attempt to escape, the couple try and cross the Alps.
"Strength here is on the technical side, particularly the camera work which is moody or sharp as the story requires. That is what distinguishes New Zealand's first locally produced feature in 12 years. What is lacking is a script. The story line, an updated fable, is about a youth who leaves home in a huff and under a cloud. After a series of adventures on the road he is last seen climbing to (presumably) his death on the rugged Southern Alps. As played by Colin Broadley, the boy looks well in his sharp-boned narrow-eyed way and is not unsympathetic. But the script does not give him enough character depth to force audience involvement. The story is down beat and since nearly plotless as well, the final effect is vague" - Variety, November 18, 1964.
"The picture has a brooding, dream like quality, but it lacks any real sense of urgency in the young man's flight from himself, too many motives are started but never fulfilled, and the direction is deliberate. Unusual camera shots occasionally succeed in creating atmosphere and the photography of the New Zealand countryside is fine. Colin Broadley displays quite a personality as David, but Deidre McCarron is wishy- washy as Diana, and Nadja Regin is an utterly conventional vamp." - Runaway Killer, Kinematograph Weekly (UK), April 29, 1965.
RUNAWAY was released in Britain as Runaway Killer (F10915)