Michael Jackson's Thriller
Michael Jackson's Thriller
| 14 November 1983 (USA)
Michael Jackson's Thriller Trailers

A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a horde of bloody-thirsty zombies. On top of the success of the Thriller album and Michael Jackson's electrifying performance at Motown 25, the short film/music video for "Thriller" established Jackson as an international superstar and global phenomenon. 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 creating a home video market. The success transformed Jackson into a dominant force in global pop culture. In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". "Thriller" was also Jackson's seventh and final U.S. Hot 100 Top 10 hit from the Thriller album. It was the first album in history to have seven U.S. Top 10s.

Reviews
adrianlotz

If you watch it a lot of times, it will never scare you anymore

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frankie-smales

this Spooktacular Halloween treat has being on the must see list amongst many fans since 1983 by blending this movie within an movie trope blended well and Vincent price really nailed his performance as the eerie narrator and the choreography had heart and passion the makeup By Rick Baker was great and direction from John Landis didn't disappoint and fans had real dedication by showing up at the set in early hours of the morning to see Michael in action I would rather re-watch this then moonwalker any time and thriller is better on laserdisc that I own but fell fowl to trashy porn parody titled driller a sexual thriller that released in 84 but with this an total delight top rating 20 out of 10 .frankie croft smales(centrevez)

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gavin6942

A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael Jackson and his date (Ola Ray) are attacked by a hoard of bloody-thirsty zombies - only "Thriller" can save them now.So, you have one of the great Michael Jackson songs, directed by John Landis, makeup by Rick Baker and narration by Vincent Price. Those are the ingredients that make greatness. Add to it a dance that has now become iconic in its own right, and this is easily the greatest music video of all time. (After thirty years, no one has come close, and the medium of "music video" is almost a dead art.) And, if Jackson was not already the King of Pop, this would have been the thing that cemented him. For the rest of the 1980s, he reigned supreme (with all due respect to Madonna).

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ackstasis

Music videos are often completely disregarded in any discussion about film, with most people considering them to be a lesser art form. While a great majority are merely flashy clips to advertise a popular performer's latest hit single, a precious few really do rise above the rest, becoming works of art in their own right {anything directed by Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry is always worth watching}. While "art" isn't precisely the word I'd use to describe Michael Jackson's 'Thriller (1983),' it is an intensely-likable hybrid of schlock horror and music, and an outrageously-campy short film that remains remarkably endearing nearly 25 years later. The thirteen-minute music video, both the longest and most expensive ever at the time of its release, was directed by John Landis, a filmmaker I'm not terribly familiar with, though 'The Blues Brothers (1980)' is a classic, and I hear that 'An American Werewolf in London (1981)' is a stupendously entertaining horror/comedy.Whether or not 'Thriller' actually qualifies as a music video is certainly up for debate, taking into account its extensive length {though Jackson bettered this effort with 1997's 'Ghosts,' at 38 minutes} and the fact that the title song comprises less than half of the total running time. The video opens with a brief film-within-a-film, as Michael, on a quiet and brightly-lit night, reveals to his girlfriend (Ola Ray) that he is "different" from other guys, transforming into a hideous werewolf as the nighttime clouds part to reveal a full moon. As he presumably decapitates the unfortunate heroine, we come across Michael and his girl in the movie theatre, actually watching this drama unfold in a horror picture. When the girl becomes frightened, they both leave cinema and begin to walk home, at which point Michael begins to sing the opening lines of his latest song, "Thriller." However, when a hoard of blood-thirsty zombies emerge from the local graveyard {their entrance ghoulishly narrated by Vincent Price}, the situation begins to get interesting.It's difficult to quite put my finger on why 'Thriller' is considered one of the greatest of all music videos. It can't simply be that the song itself is a lot of fun, and Michael Jackson – though he has since become the butt of all comedians' jokes for his peculiar personality and doings – there's no doubt that he is an excellent singer and performer. Perhaps a decent explanation for the film's popularity is the incredible amount of work that must have gone into it; nothing like it had ever been seen before, and it still remains something of an oddity in the world of music videos. The gruesome monster make-up effects were engineered by Rick Baker, and are surprisingly graphic for a music clip, though it's all carried out with a good sense of fun. Several moments make for some genuinely exciting suspense, successfully capturing the atmosphere of the films which it is parodying {though always with a cheesy twist on the usual formula}. Simply put, you'll never look at a zombie movie in the same way again!

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