Saint Bernard is Gabe Bartalos’ second feature film as director, writer and producer. His first feature, Skinned Deep, captures its audience’s imagination with a cast of nightmarish characters, such as the Surgeon General. Both films are celebrated for their high-energy surrealist quality, giving Bartalos a reputation for enigmatic themes. This unique style lead to Gabe being tapped to direct the short film Rattle Trucks, for Mark Seliger’s band “Rusty Truck”. The film, described as a dark fairy tale, features a foreboding, four-horned creature known simply as “The Shape.” Other music videos directed by Bartalos include 37 Cents by Joey Briggs, West Coast Damnation by The Damned, My Own Enemy by The Briggs and a mini-documentary about the making of the Street Dogs album, State of Grace.
Bartalos is also a well-known special make-up effects artist, exhibiting his imaginative designs in films such as Sometimes They Come Back, The Hollow, Dead Space and Jack and Diane. He has most frequently collaborated with cult horror aficionado Frank Henenlotter, on films such as Brain Damage, Frankenhooker, Basket Case 2 and 3, Bad Biology and the upcoming Art Thieves. He is also acclaimed for his work on Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle, Drawing Restraint 9 and the Los Angeles Live performance of Ren. Bartalos is the owner an operator of Atlantic West Effects, a special make-up effects production studio in Los Angeles.