Kanye West ‘Monster’ Video Features Hanging, Decapitated and Cannibal Models [Screencaps]

If a leaked video for Kanye West is any indication of the work we’ll be seeing to support the rapper’s hit song “Monster,”  West isn’t afraid of using very literal references to illustrate this part of his dark twisted fantasy.

Leaked Unedited Video for Monster by Kanye West featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver

The unfinished video, which was removed shortly after being leaked on YouTube (wow, those take down notices move fast!), opens with Rick Ross sitting in a room with women hanging from the ceiling, then moves to West flashing his newly installed diamond covered teeth (just saying, the morning breath one would get from diamond covered teeth is probably a monster on its own) while being grabbed at by lots of red-nailed women. It then shifts to two dead women in bed, with West positioning them to put their arms around each other. One lady may have a future as a Law & Order extra, but another blinks, giving a sign of life that will probably be edited out in the final version. Jay-Z raps in front of a woman sprawled naked and (presumably) dead on a couch, and in the next scene the camera pans down to reveal Kanye West holding a woman’s severed head. In between there are zombie schoolgirls jumping rope, two women eating a dead waiter (one of the rare times in the video women are shown as the monsters) and hands struggling to break through doors, but the most interesting scene is the one where Nicki Minaj tortures herself. With a pink wigged Barbie version of herself tied up, dominatrix Nicki looms with a riding crop while her alter ego quips back.

Screencaps from the video below, if mirror upload is removed.

The final version will likely have sharper colors, additional effects and improved transitions, but somehow it feels like we’ve seen a lot of this before. If Eli Roth directed a “video editorial” for an America’s Next Top Model challenge, we’re guessing this would be the Tyra-unapproved result. There are certain elements that will cause controversy and provide shock value, but possibly because of the length (or lack thereof) they all feel gratuitous rather than creepy. Rihanna’s “Disturbia” pulled it off pretty well, Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” video also, but “Monster” seems content to repeat the white contact covered eyes for zombie extras with added doses of misogynistic imagery and call it new. Controversial imagery aside – and it will certainly generate controversy – the greatest offense is how uninspired everything seems.

Love the song, but when it comes to the video we’ll look away.