14 DAY TRIAL // The other day saw the release (or leak, depending on who you believe) of a short film that plays like a trailer of some sorts, of a very disturbing nature, with shock rocker Marilyn Manson, singer Lana Del Rey, and director / actor Eli Roth.
It was posted online by production company Sturmgruppe and it immediately got a lot of attention online because it includes a scene in which Lana’s character is raped by Eli’s. The footage isn’t revealing in the way similar productions are, being shocking more for what it suggests than for what it shows.
Rumor had it that Manson himself co-directed with Roth, who is actually a good friend, and that the footage was part of a lost Lana Del Rey project. Manson wants the world to know he had nothing to do with it.
The offensive footage
Because of the nature of the short film, we can’t embed it here, but the gallery below should help offer you some insight into the content. It shows a dinner party with all female guests, except for Manson: he is sitting next to a woman whose face is not shown. Women in the room are trashing it.
In another room (the viewer gets the impression this happens in the same house, because of the editing), Lana’s character is violently thrown on a bed and raped by Roth’s. After the act is done, he gets up, with the camera focusing on Lana’s dejected face, as tears stream down her cheeks.
Again, the actual rape isn’t shown, but the images are violent. The fact that the action is in slow motion contributes to the overall impression that we’re witnessing something heartbreaking. Later on in the video, one woman is shown standing on a table on all fours, holding balloons with the word “rape” on them.
Manson disowns shocking video
Hours after the video emerged, rumor began to circulate that this was a joint directorial effort from Manson and Roth, the latter being best known for his cult horror film “Hostel.”
A rep for the rocker tells Billboard that this is not the case. In fact, he insists, Manson had nothing to do with the production at all: “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.”
Indeed, the trade publication notes, there is footage from earlier Manson videos thrown in there, particularly from “No Reflection” and “Slo-Mo-Tion.” Sturmgruppe had worked with the rocker before, which would explain why they used their footage in this compilation.
The mysterious project Roth confirmed in 2013
The video below is a segment from an Eli Roth appearance on Larry King: the director took questions from fans via social media, and asked if he’d ever work with Manson, he said, “Actually, I shot a video with Marilyn Manson and Lana Del Rey. The footage is so sick, it's been locked in a vault for over a year.”
One year earlier, Lana and Manson were photographed together at a hotel, which gave way to online speculation that they might be dating. They might have been there to shoot for this secret project.
So, this is what Roth could have been talking about – but that still leaves a very important question unanswered: if he shot the video with Manson and Lana, why use older Manson footage, from already released videos?
