‘Mask of Sarnath’ DVD unveils lost Throbbing Gristle score
Mask of Sarnath DVD
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.
About the film ‘Mask of Sarnath’
“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. Below is a short preview.
About Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle formed in 1975 in the UK out of the performance art collective COUM Transmissions. The core line-up consisted of Chris Carter, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson. The group’s use of electronics, tape loops, noise and transgressive imagery helped define what later became known as industrial music, working initially through their own imprint Industrial Records.
Across late-1970s releases such as “The Second Annual Report” and “20 Jazz Funk Greats”, the band moved between improvised abrasion, proto-synthpop structures and collage-based sound experiments. The collective first disbanded in 1981, then regrouped in the 2000s for new studio work and live performances before ceasing activities again after the deaths of Christopherson in 2010 and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge in 2020.
Mute has since started a long-running reissue programme.
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