Thriller (music video) – wikipedia

The video clip for Michael Jackson’s song Thriller is considered a milestone in the history of the music videos. He was shot in Los Angeles (California) in autumn 1983 and produced by director John Landis.

The clip was first broadcast on December 2, 1983. It is much longer than the album version of the same name. For the first time, Landis created a music video that can be described as an independent film.

Michael looks at a horror film in the cinema with his girlfriend, in which the main actor (also played by Michael Jackson) turns into a workshop in the dark forest at night and followed a young girl. His girlfriend fears too much and leaves the cinema. Michael follows her after a few seconds and tries to calm her down. On the way home from the cinema, Michael begins to dance and sings his song Thriller . They walk across the cemetery, where the dead awakened to life. Vincent Price’s off voice can now be heard. After that, Michael also turns into a zombie and joins the other who surround the girl. This escapes to an empty house nearby, and when the zombies follow her and penetrate the house, she starts screaming. Then she wakes up from a nightmare on the couch in Michael’s apartment, which leans over her with normal condition and calms her down. He wants to bring her home, and while the two go to the door, Michael turns to the camera again, his face becomes devilish again, and the swear -like laugh sounds that can be heard at the end of the song.

• Michael Jackson was part of Jehovah’s Witnesses at the time of the video publication. Before the film begins, the following message can therefore be read:

• The first music video was Thriller included in the National Film Registry on December 30, 2009. ^[first]
• Thriller Was at the time with $ 500,000 (approx. 639,000 euros) ^[2] The most complex and expensive music video.
• In January 1984 was Thriller In the music video show Forml like when Video of the week Full length, but shown without a tie. Because of the creepy action of the video, this edition of the program was only allowed to be broadcast after 10 p.m. for youth protection reasons.
• The music video with a look behind the scenes was on video cassette under the name The Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller published. It was sold around 750,000 times by the beginning of 1986 and is still the best -selling music video in the world.
• „See you next Wednesday.“ (“See you next Wednesday”) says Vincent Price in the film, which Michael and his girlfriend watch. Later the same sentence with blood can be seen on a wall. In addition, the sentence is a running gag at John Landis and is used in each of his films.
• Director John Landis is in the foreground in the right in the middle of the cinema.
• “Vincent Price Thriller” is on the display above the cinema entrance.
• In the movie Otto – the film (1985) the music video is parodied: Otto suggests to his adored to take an abbreviation over the cemetery. Once there, he reveals that he is “different from the others” and turns into Heino. After other “zombie-Heinos” arise from their graves, they interpret the beat of Thriller an idiosyncratic version of Black brown is the hazelnut .
• Appear and dance of the blue gorillas in the music video of the song Clint Eastwood The band Gorillaz parodies the zombies in Thriller .

In the music video there are some allusions to horror films in which John Landis or Vincent Price were involved:

• The cinema in which Michael and his girlfriend watch the horror film is the same as in the film The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), where Landis directed. Even the original poster from Landis’ film Schlock – the banana monster (1973) hang in the showcases.
• The sound of the growling workshop during the transformation is the same sound as in the film An American Werewolf in London (1981). In this film, Landis also directed and also wrote the script.
• A poster of the film hangs on the outer surface of the cinema House of Wax ( Professor Bondi’s cabinet ) (1953), in which Vincent Price played the main role.

1. ↑ Information On Loc.gov
2. ↑ Production costs On billboard.com