Description
Austin-based Tow Truck Productions has issued a new DVD edition of the horror short “Mask of Sarnath”, pairing the original 1980 cut with a newly re-edited 2025 version and, for the first time, the complete unreleased soundtrack by Throbbing Gristle. The disc arrives 45 years after the score was recorded and follows the film’s original run as a finalist in the 1980 Student Academy Awards.
Producer and director Neil Ruttenberg says: “Tow Truck Productions is proud to announce the release of ‘Mask of Sarnath’ with the complete uncut unreleased soundtrack by Throbbing Gristle. Unreleased for 45 years, this soundtrack has never been issued until today.” Recorded in 1980 specifically for the film, the material has until now only been heard embedded in circulating prints of the short.
The DVD presents two versions of the film under the Tow Truck Productions / X-Film banner. The original (1980) runs 20 minutes in black and white, while The Nightmare Cut” (2025) is a newly recut and re-imagined colour version with a 32-minute running time. Both cuts use the Throbbing Gristle soundtrack, with the 1980 version also featuring music by Austin punk band The Huns.
“Mask of Sarnath” was written and directed by Neil Ruttenberg and produced by Ruttenberg and Louis Black. The cast includes Nina Nichols, Larry Seaman and Raymond Lee, with Loren Bivens as executive producer. Vince Hollister handled cinematography and co-edited the film with Joel Richardson, while Ric Cruz created the black-and-white drawings and cover poster artwork featured on the new DVD sleeve.
For the 2025 “Nightmare Cut”, Neil Ruttenberg shares directing credits with Zane Ruttenberg, who also edited the new version using original 1980 footage. The DVD offers a stereo sound for both cuts.
The film itself is structured as a horror genre piece built around the theme “Evil Never Dies”, with Throbbing Gristle’s score described in archival synopses as eerie and purpose-written for the project.
Excellent articles at The Austin Chronicle and industrialcomplexx.com
