Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983)

Directed by

John Landis

Genre

horror film, musical film, zombie film

Country

United States

Runtime

14 min

Rated

PG

Rating

8.3 of 10 from 777 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Michael Jackson stars in a music video where he turns into a zombie and dances with a horde of undead. His date is horrified by the monster attack until it turns into a playful dance routine.

playfulspookyenergeticiconicdance-driventheatricallight-hearted horrorcampy

What happens

Michael Jackson's Thriller is the music video for the song "Thriller" by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on December 2, 1983. It was directed by John Landis, written by Jackson and Landis, and stars Jackson and Ola Ray. It references numerous horror films and has Jackson dancing with a horde of zombies. Jackson's sixth album, Thriller, was released in November 1982 and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200, backed by successful videos for the singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It". In July 1983, after Thriller was displaced from the top of the chart, Jackson and his team decided to release "Thriller" as a single. Jackson hired Landis to direct the video after seeing his 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. It was filmed at various locations in Los Angeles, including the Palace Theater, with a budget much larger than previous music videos. A making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to sell to television networks. Michael Jackson's Thriller was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. It doubled sales of Thriller, helping it become the best-selling album in history, and the documentary sold over a million copies, becoming the best-selling VHS tape at the time. "Thriller" is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, popularizing the making-of documentary format and driving home video sales. The success made Jackson a dominant force in global pop culture. Many elements of Michael Jackson's Thriller have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, designed by Landis's wife, Deborah Nadoolman. The video is closely associated with Halloween, and fans worldwide re-enact its zombie dance. It has been named the greatest music video by various publications and readers' polls. In 2009, Michael Jackson's Thriller became the first music video inducted into the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, which described it as the most famous music video of all time. It reached one billion views on YouTube in 2024. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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