“Groupie” is a long-rumored home movie from the 1990s directed by the controversial industrial rock singer Marilyn Manson, which allegedly contains footage of actual torture and abuse of a minor.
Production.
The story goes that around 1996, at the height of the popularity of the album “Antichrist Superstar,” Marilyn Manson and his team, including fashion photographer and videographer Joseph Cultice, filmed an experimental/horror-style short or medium-length film titled “Groupie.”
Over the years, the video became an urban legend on the internet and in music forums because it was never released to the public. Initial rumors, fueled by the band’s own dark mystique, claimed that the material was so disturbing, explicit, and illegal that Manson’s managers demanded that he hide the master tapes to prevent the entire band from ending up in prison.
Content.
According to the limited information officially shared in court documents and the testimonies of some of the plaintiffs, it was alleged that the video showed an alleged underage fan arriving at the musician’s private residence, where she was tied to a chair, interrogated under extreme stress, humiliated, and subjected to degrading and abusive situations, such as being forced to drink a glass of urine (from Manson's percussionist Madonna Wayne Gacy) and being threatened with a firearm in front of the band members, who allegedly reacted without fully knowing whether what was happening was real or staged.
Subsequent rumors.
Due to the secretive nature of the production and the band's dark aesthetic in the 1990s, rumors began to circulate on underground forums and in internet urban legends that it was either a snuff film or a documentary recording of actual abuse committed against a minor.
Years later, the rumors intensified when former partners and plaintiffs claimed in legal proceedings that Manson used the existence of this material in private to psychologically intimidate others, leading them to believe that what appeared on screen had actually happened.
Legal Disclaimers.
Because that video was used by some accusers to argue that Manson intimidated those around him by showing footage of actual abuse, between 2021 and 2022, the truth about the project came to light through statements from those involved.
The woman who appears in the video playing the role of the alleged fan is Pola Weiss, who was of legal age at the time, about 21 or 22 years old, and had a friendly or close relationship with Manson.
She herself made public statements denying that it was a real video of abuse or a snuff film. She explained that it was all an experimental, acted-out horror short film, a game of “truth or twisted dare” devised by her and Manson to capture the genuine reactions of the other band members (such as Twiggy Ramirez), who didn’t actually know it was fiction.
The cinematographer who filmed the footage (Joseph Cultice) and Manson's defense team have maintained that it was a provocative work of art from the 1990s, featuring actors and made with the full consent of the participants, arguing that the allegations that it constituted child pornography or actual abuse misrepresented a private work of fiction.
Lost?
Despite the explanations offered by its creators, and even though the original master tapes and backup copies physically exist, held in legal archives and private collections belonging to the inner circle of that era, their distribution is completely blocked, making it one of the most scrutinized, debated, and jealously guarded underground legends in the history of industrial rock. However, Manson agreed to release only a clip from the film, which can be seen at the end of his 1998 live video album, “Dead to the World.”
