Warning: This story features graphic video and descriptions of rape that may be triggering.
Shock and awe are par for the course when it comes to Hostel director Eli Roth and goth rocker Marilyn Manson, especially when you combine the two. But neither shock nor awe adequately describes this leaked video, which was released online Wednesday night. The video, alleged to be an unreleased 2012 collaboration between Manson and Roth, depicts a brutally violent rape scene between Roth and pop singer Lana Del Rey, among other macabre scenes, set to instrumental goth rock.
The NSFW video, which was released under the title “Sturmgruppe 2013 Reel” was quickly pulled down from YouTube, but can still be seen on Dailymotion. In addition to the Roth and Del Rey rape scene, the video features a birthday party with balloons emblazoned with the word “RAPE” in black marker and a bloodied woman submerged underwater. According to Gawker, the video was part of a reel for Los Angeles-based digital art group Sturmgruppe, which has worked with Manson in the past on both video editing and cinematography.
So, how exactly does this all tie back to Manson and Roth? Back in 2013, Roth did an interview with Larry King in which he was asked whether he’d ever collaborate with the shock rocker. Roth replied that he’d actually shot a video with Del Rey and Manson, and he claimed that “the footage is so sick it’s been locked in a vault for over a year.”
The majority of the video footage that made it into the Sturmgruppe reel was also featured in Manson’s music video released in April 2012 for his song “No Reflection,” save for the rape scene and the birthday party with the rape balloons.
Despite Roth claiming that he had collaborated on footage with Manson and Del Rey, Manson’s camp instantly distanced Manson from the Sturmgruppe video, releasing a statement that claimed, “Manson did not direct this, shoot it, nor was it for a Marilyn Manson video or outtake footage made by him or to be used by him with his music. It must be a fan video splicing up old Manson video footage with someone else’s Lana Del Rey footage.”
So, who’s lying? It’s hard to say. To be fair, Roth never said it was actually this footage that was the collaboration between himself, Manson, and Del Rey—though it does make you wonder, if not this video, what other disturbing tape do they have out there, locked away? On second thought, I don’t even want to know.
