Recorded Live is a 1975 short film directed by SS Wilson of Tremors fame.
Mr. Aaines (John Goodwin) gets a letter for an interview at KLRM, a TV studio. He shows up for his interview but finds the building deserted. All he finds are some discarded clothing at a desk and a pair of film reels. The reel film promptly comes to life and goes after Mr. Aaines. Our hero is quick to learn that the film has an appetite for human flesh.
At present, the film is available for viewing on YouTube
and is also included as a bonus feature on the DVD of Tremors 4. To anyone who watched HBO during the 1970s and 1980s, Recorded Live frequently ran as filler between movies and, if YouTube and IMDB comments are any indication, served as Nightmare Fuel.
This film provides examples of:
- The Bad Guy Wins: The film devours Mr. Aaines, sends out another letter to a victim and then returns to its reel to wait for the next person.
- Empty Piles of Clothing: All that's left of the film's victims.
- Here We Go Again!: The film ends with the film typing up another letter to send out to someone else for an "interview".
- Hope Spot: Mr. Aaines finds a magnet in a box labelled "Fun With Science". It works in repelling the film. He then puts down the magnet as he tries to open a window to make an escape. This costs Mr. Aaines his life.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: For a film about film that eats people, it has some upbeat piano music.
- Stop Motion: Or more pixilation since it's live-action. This is how the reel film is animated.
- To Serve Man: The reel film eats human flesh and ends up devouring Mr. Aaines.
