Considered a predecessor of the modern videoclip and a reference for filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and John Waters, Scorpio Rising is also credited with the introduction of the leather and biker aesthetic to 1960s New York. The film, loosely structured around a soundtrack composed of pop music from the era, follows a group of bikers preparing for a night out. Solely making use of direct cuts and colour as a through thread, Anger’s film is a cauldron in which he mixes themes of the occult, homosexuality, Christianity and Nazism — the film was even subject to lawsuits from representatives of the latter two groups.