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Mixed reviews for Red Hill at Berlin

Australian western Red Hill has received mixed reviews from the international press, following the film’s premiere at Berlin on Sunday night.

Red Hill

Screen Daily’s Jonathan Romney  has called the film – written, directed and produced by Patrick Hughes, with producer Al Clark – “unashamedly commercial” and “destined to travel widely”, thanks to the global popularity of its True Blood star, Ryan Kwanten.

“This hugely entertaining cross-genre tale of a rural manhunt contrives to meld cop and cowboy elements into a rattling nail-biter,” said Romney in his review.

At The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Brunette was not so generous. He praised Hughes’ visual skills, but concluded that the project “is weighed down and finally destroyed by too many cliches and a lack of clarity about what’s being attempted”.

According to Brunette, Red Hill might have a shot at television and ancillary rights in some territories, but a cinema release “seems a long shot” outside “the shopping malls of Australia”.

Variety seemed to agree.

Derek Elley wrote that “not many international auds may like saddling up alongside [the protagonist]”, adding that the film may not find many theatrical hits beyond Australia.

“[Red Hill is] as short on originality and sustained tension as it is long on striking widescreen vistas and impressive technical smarts,” wrote Elley.

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