10 Scariest Videos In Rock Music History
5. The Beautiful People – Marilyn Manson (1996)
One of the more disturbing visual experiences to hit the 1990s music scene was the video for The Beautiful People. The track was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and dealt with the darker sides of the human psyche, exploring the ideas of alienation, nihilism and that most lighted hearted of topics, Nietzsche's concept of master–slave morality.
With all these themes jumbled up into an industrial take on heavy rock, it was necessary to create a visual accompaniment to match the distinctive sound.
Trent Reznor's influence can be seen all over this video, with an aesthetic not dissimilar to the Nine Inch Nails video for Closer. But, it was director Floria Sigismondi - known for her avant-garde depictions of the most bizarre and alluring aspects of human life - who Marilyn Manson had to thank for the finished piece.
Combining a Tim Burton-esque aesthetic with an abandoned apothecary setting, Sigismondi used all manor of clever but unnerving camera techniques to capture Marilyn Manson's captivating performance. The use of different frame rates and unusual camera angles resulted in one hell of a disturbing video, but it was one of the more visually impactful of the genre.