CTRL AI Delete LIVE, the interactive cinema version of the crowdfunded British comedy CTRL AI Delete, will be performed for the first time at PLAY Expo Blackpool on Sunday 4 October at 3pm.
The film is set inside a fictional retro gaming expo in Skegness, where a gang of gamers have to save the world with ZX Spectrums and Commodore 64s after a global AI rollout goes wrong. That fictional expo was inspired by PLAY Expo Blackpool, so on Sunday the story comes home.
CTRL AI Delete LIVE is not a standard screening. About 45 minutes in, a rogue AI takes over the cinema. To get the film back, the whole audience must play a level of Star Dash, the arcade game at the heart of the film, by shouting UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT together. Win, and the movie carries on.
Live actors appear throughout. Mark Felgate hosts in character as Ginger Morecambe, the expo's long-suffering venue manager, and the rude waitress from the film's Mr Flippy's cafe will be taking orders. Jason Bradbury also appears live.
The soundtrack features 90s dance act Utah Saints, whose track "Dragster Chase" is the film's hacker anthem. Jason Bradbury composed most of the other tracks on classic 80s hardware including the Roland TR-808, TB-303 and Korg MS-20.
Jason said: "The characters in this film are the people you meet at shows like PLAY Expo, so it's the right place to do this for the first time. I've always described it as Terminator meets Phoenix Nights. If you're at the expo on Sunday, come and find us at 3pm. The AI might need your help."