Recorded Live is an old student film by director S.S. Wilson (originally aired on HBO I think). I’ve been looking for this title for years (having last seen it when I was around 5 give or take a year). It is low-budget, campy, and weird. The sound and video quality are as low as anything you're likely to see on a widely distributed DVD. It looks like something I might have tried to make in college. And yet despite anything I have to say that may come across as negative I consider it one of the treasures of my DVD collection.

 

When a man goes to a TV studio to interview for a job he finds himself being chased by an unlikely villain. It’s man against monster (of sorts) with losing meaning a fate as strange and creepily campy as the creature itself.

 

I know my feelings won’t be shared by everybody, but I absolutely love this strange little film. Maybe it’s because I’ve been searching for it for 20 years. I finally found it on the Tremors 4 DVD and don't know if it is available anywhere else (I checked for it on youtube as I was writing and was able to find it there). Seeing it for the first time since before I could tie my own shoe I can only imagine that in front of the TV I looked like a kid who just caught Santa Claus and discovered that he's really a vampire. As a result I can't view it objectively and will personally stalk you mercilessly until you break down and finally watch it yourself.

 

There is a grand total of exactly 1 actor in the entire movie (unless you count the voice reading the note). His list of acting credits is small and unimpressive though he appears to be quite prolific as a makeup effects artist. He doesn't have much to do here except run around looking scared which he does acceptably well. His screams sound suitably panic-stricken.

 

The creature is animated with stop-motion and other tricks. It actually sells admirably well and is visually more realistic than some bigger-budget creatures done with more modern technology. Having said that it's not going to blow you away with smooth animation like a Pixar movie, this is still low-budget campy, so don't go into it expecting perfect realism.

 

The music is a jazzy piano score that sounds like it came out of a cartoon's saloon. The sound effects are cartoony and amusing. They add a lot of character to the feel of the film.

 

I would classify this as dark humor. From one perspective it is hysterical in concept and execution. From another perspective it's a bit disturbing, even tragic. It's more of a gimmick than a real story, but the 8 minute run time keeps it from feeling drawn out.