Award-winning psychological horror, DEATH MASK took Best Actor for Xander Berkeley along with Best Picture and Best Director at 20+ festivals. Also starring Sarah Clarke, Whip Hubley, and cult icon Mink Stole. Directed by Steve Balderson (Firecracker).
Artist Oliver Black wakes to find his wife dead beside him. Instead of calling for help, he hides her body and begins sculpting a death mask before her face is lost forever.
REVIEWS
"9/10...it is an intimate journey that Balderson makes haunting, beautiful, and extraordinary. Berkeley’s acting is without flaw."
- FILM THREAT (Sabina Dana Plasse)
"The experience of watching it transcends mere plot mechanics and character development and demands we experience this movie sensorially as much as intellectually."
- Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
"From director Steve Balderson (Firecracker) comes a visually poetic experience in pure cinema in the tradition of the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Stan Brakhage."
- Santa Fe New Mexican
"Dripping with theatricality... Spectacular."
- Liz Whittemore, Reel News Daily
"I am in love with this film and what Steve Balderson brings to the table visually and aesthetically. And Xander Berkeley delivers an award-worthy performance; one of the best of his career."
- Debbie Lynn Elias, Behind the Lens
"Deftly and beautifully blurs the lines between character study, magical realism, and horror."
- Hollywood Times
"The cinematography conveys this unreal vision through visual disruptions: veils, reflections, glaring light, a slippery sense of time. The colors—blues and yellows—are hypersaturated, as if Argento’s Suspiria were set in the daytime."
- Eva Rosenfeld, The Arts Fuse
FILM FESTIVALS, SCREENINGS, AWARDS (partial list):
FANTASPORTO (2022)
*Nominated Best International Feature
FESTIVAL CINE DEL MAR (Punta del Este, Uruguay, 2022)
*Winner Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)
*Winner Best Actress (Sarah Clarke)
*Winner Best Screenplay (Steve Balderson)
ATLANTA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Director (Steve Balderson)
L.A. SCI-FI & HORROR FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)
XIII MONTEVIDEO FANTÁSTICO FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Cinematography (Hanuman Brown-Eagle)
*Winner Best Soundtrack (Heather Schmidt)
BOSTON SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Sound Design (Sebastián Zunino)
CRIMSON SCREEN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Cinematography (Hanuman Brown-Eagle)
PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Feature Film (Science Fiction)
GALACTICAT Fantastic (Tàrrega, Spain, 2022)
SALENTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Nominated Best International Feature
*Winner Best Soundtrack (Heather Schmidt)
MACABRE FAIRE FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)
*Winner Best Soundtrack (Heather Schmidt)
*Nominated Best Supporting Actress (Mink Stole)
BROOKLN SCIFI FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Sci-Fi / Rogue Feature Film
*Nominated Best Sci-Fi / Rogue Director (Steve Balderson)
*Nominated Best Acting Duo (Xander Berkeley & Sarah Clarke)
*Nominated Best Cinematography (Hanuman Brown-Eagle)
*Nominated Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)
*Nominated Best Supporting Actress (Sarah Clarke)
PORTLAND FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
TWISTED DREAMS FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
*Winner Best Actor (Xander Berkeley)
*Winner Best Supporting Actress (Sarah Clarke)
*Winner Best Cinematography (Hanuman Brown-Eagle)
CINE-EXCESS 16 (2022: Reframing the Monsters Outside: Mavericks, Rebels and Rule Breakers in Cult Film)
FANTASMAGORIA (2022 Festival de Cine Fantástico y de Terror)
FERATUM International Fantastic Film Festival (2022)
SHOCKFEST (2022)
ANOTHER HOLE IN THE HEAD FILM FESTIVAL (2022)
Another version of the film was originally released as "Alchemy of the Spirit" which can been seen here on YouTube: