VIDEO REVIEW : ‘Erotica’ Shocker: It’s a Repeat

Madonna’s new video clip, for her single “Erotica,” just might have an unintended side effect: It could send scores of lifelong liberal Democrats running for cover inside Dan Quayle’s family values tent.

The nasty and naughty clip premiered on MTV in the wee hours Saturday morning, preceded by an MTV representative’s warning that its “fantasies of bondage, domination and submission” would be “repellent” to some, “which is why MTV is not airing this video in regular daytime or evening rotation.” (The censors! )

Actually, Madonna is probably disappointed that the network is airing it in any time slot: The last time MTV flat-out rejected one of her clips, “Justify My Love,” it made a fortune as a retail item.

This time, Madonna has done the most shocking thing of all--repeated herself. “Erotica” is almost “Justify My Love II,” although the cuddly chameleon of pop controversy has adopted yet another new look. This week she’s the stern Nazi nanny/dominatrix, with her slicked-back platinum bob, black eyes, gender-bending outfit, an ominously humongous fingernail that looks like it’s on loan from Freddie Krueger and, naturally, a riding crop.

Grainy black-and-white photography gives the clip that alluring, queasy, snuff-film feel. What’s being snuffed, of course, is traditional sexual morality. In this teaser trailer for her upcoming coffee-table book “Sex,” we see Madonna in leather gear being ridden like a horse, or turning the tables and pulling the reins on a whole team of kneeling bondage boys; a lesbian scene, as well as a menage a trois , and more wide-open mouths and wet, willing tongues than KISS’ Gene Simmons ever dreamed of, in concert with every imaginable intimation of S&M; . . . along with the recurring image of a cross, just for good, superfluous measure.

After this, there’s very little envelope for Madonna to push. Will an over-saturated public ever mark it “return to sender”?