Merhige was later hired by singer Marilyn Manson to direct music videos for his songs "Antichrist Superstar" and "Cryptorchid", the latter utilizing imagery that was heavily incorporated from "Begotten". Manson was a huge admirer of "Begotten", which he called "one of the strangest and scariest films I've seen", having the album's art designer P. R. Brown watch the film for inspiration while developing cover art for the album. Manson personally contacted Merhige to ask him if he would be willing to direct the music video for his song "Cryptorchid". Manson has stated that "Begotten" was played on a loop during the entire recording for his album "Antichrist Superstar". The music video for "Cryptorchid" premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1997 where it won a Golden Gate Certificate of Merit Award. It was subsequently barred from release by Interscope Records, whom Manson claimed were "appalled by it", due to its fascist iconography, namely the Nuremberg rallies, along with U.S. military footage and images of a Ku Klux Klan lynching. "Cryptorchid" was also beset with troubles and remained unreleased until it was leaked on YouTube in 2010.