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Michael Jackson's Thriller, or simply Thriller, is a 1983 short film by the American recording artist Michael Jackson, and is widely regarded as the greatest music video of all time. Directed by John Landis, the 14-minute horror film was co-written by Jackson and Landis to accompany the former's 1982 hit song "Thriller".

Plot

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The short film begins on a dark night, with Michael (Jackson) driving his unnamed date (Ola Ray) toward a secluded area next to a forest. The car they are travelling in suddenly runs out of gasoline, forcing them to abandon the vehicle at the side of the road and complete their journey by foot. After a short walk, the pair stop and discuss their feelings for one and other. With it established that Michael's love for his date is reciprocated, he proposes to her. She happily accepts the marriage proposal but is met with a warning from her new fiancé. Michael reveals to her that he is "not like other guys"; he's different. Not understanding what Michael means, his date questions him as a cloud parts, revealing a full moon. Michael immediately convulses, bending double, before looking up at his shocked fiancée with yellow eyes and pointed fangs, urging her to get away from him. His date screams, frozen to the spot, as Michael transforms into a were-creature. As the metamorphosis completes, Michael's fiancée runs into the depths of the nearby forest, with the newly-formed beast pursuing her. There, she falls onto her back. The were-creature stands above her, drawing his claws towards her face with a loud growl.

At this moment, the camera cuts away to a movie theater, where a human Michael and his date—along with a repulsed audience—are actually watching the were-creature scene unfold in a movie called Thriller. Scared by the film, the female date leaves the cinema and is teased outside by Michael, who asserts that it was only a movie. The duo then walk along a dark fog-filled street, as Michael sings the opening lines of the song "Thriller". Teasing the girl all the while, Michael escorts his date down the street and past a cemetry, in which corpses are rising from from their graves. Noticing that they have been surrounded by zombies, Michael and his date stop in the middle of the road that they have just reached. Having turned away from Michael to focus on the undead, his date turns to look back at him, only to see that he has turned into a zombie himself. Suddenly, Michael breaks into dance—accompanied by his fellow zombies—and the chorus of "Thriller".

Once Michael and the zombies have completed their dance, they follow the terrified unnamed girl into an abandoned, filthy and derelict house. They gain entry to the property via the windows and floors. Michael breaks down the door to the room in which his date has retreated to. Followed by his fellow zombies, he advances towards the girl, who turns away, cowering. As the back of her neck is grabbed by the supposed zombie Michael, she screams, opening her eyes and facing what is revealed to be a normal, human Michael, in her clean house. Amused, he asks her what the problem is, as she looks at him with a confused expression on her face. Michael offers to take her home and escorts his girlfriend toward the door. As they are making their way out of the room, Michael looks back, directly into the camera, sporting yellow eyes and a grin.

Cast

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Main

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Extras

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Background

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Music videos

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Sheet music cover of "The Little Lost Child".

Michael Jackson

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An African American man in his mid-twenties wearing a sequined military jacket and dark sunglasses. He walks and waves his right hand, which is adorned with a white glove. His left hand is bare.
Michael Jackson in 1984

Past videos...

Jackson recorded the song "Thriller" in 1982, which featured a rap by actor Vincent Price. The musician was inspired to create a music video for the song—the title track of his Thriller album—after watching the 1981 comedy horror film An American Werewolf in London. The movie had been directed by John Landis, who Jackson subsequently sought to work with on his vision of a short film for "Thriller". Landis initially declined; he felt that music videos were "basically commercials". Following the pleads of a persistent Jackson, Landis eventually agreed that he would direct and co-write the short film along with the singer.

Production

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Filming

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Part of Michael Jackson's Thriller was filmed at the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles, California

Make-up and special effects

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Choreography

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Reception

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Religious community

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Critical

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Awards

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Plot interpretations and analysis

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The Making of Thriller

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Remakes

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Wedding Thriller

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Prison Thriller

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Indian Thriller

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Others

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Litigation

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Headshot of a middle aged. Looking and smiling directly into the camera, the man wears rounded spectacles and sports a light grey beard. He wears a suit jacket, with a blue shirt and a patterned tie.
Director John Landis stated in 2009 that he was due four years worth of royalties

Legacy

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Participants of the 2008 Thrill the World event in Austin, Texas

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Accolades

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Organization Country Accolade Year Ref
MTV Video Music Awards United States Best Overall Performance Video 1984 [6]
MTV Video Music Awards United States Best Choreography 1984 [6]
MTV Video Music Awards United States Viewer's Choice Award 1984 [6]
People's Choice Awards United States Favorite Video of the Year 1984 [7]
MTV Video Vanguard Award United States The Greatest Video in the History of the World 1989 [8]
Rolling Stone Awards United States Video of the Decade 1989
Music Video Producer's Hall of Fame United States Induction into the Hall of Fame 1991
Guinness World Records United Kingdom Most Successful Music Video 2006

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Shuster, Fred (February 23, 1986). "Fantasy Collection Is Goblin Up All His Space". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (April 25, 2008). "'World's Largest Zombie Disco' Marks 25th Anniversary of 'Thriller' Video in NYC". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Glenbard East High School". Daily Herald. (June 1, 2007). Retrieved November 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Baker, Celia R. (October 3, 2004). "Hale Centre makes a big splash". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November, 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Day, Patrick Kevin (February 12, 2008). "25 Thriller facts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b c "MTV Video Music Awards 1984". MTV. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  7. ^ "Jackson is choice". The Free Lance–Star. (March 16, 1984). Retrieved November 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Campbell , pp. 277–278
Bibliography
  • Austin, Jake (2005). TV-a-go-go: rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1556525729.
  • Campbell, Lisa (1993). Michael Jackson: The King of Pop. Branden. ISBN 082831957X.
  • Campbell, Michael (2008). Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes on. Cengage Learning. ISBN 0495505307.
  • Frith, Simon (1993). Sound and vision: the music video reader. Routledge. ISBN 0415094313.
  • George, Nelson (2004). Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection booklet. Sony BMG.
  • Gledhill, Christine (1991). Stardom: industry of desire. Routledge. ISBN 0415052173.
  • Grant, Adrian (2009). Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781849382618.
  • Guinness World Records (2005). Guinness World Records 2006. Guinness. ISBN 1904994024.
  • Halstead, Craig (2007). Michael Jackson: For the Record. Authors OnLine. ISBN 9780755202676.
  • Inglis, Ian (2006). Performance and popular music: history, place and time. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0754640574.
  • Lewis, Jel (2005). Michael Jackson, the King of Pop: The Big Picture: the Music! the Man! the Legend! the Interviews!. Amber Books Publishing. ISBN 097497790X.
  • Mitoma, Judy (2003). Envisioning dance on film and video. Routledge. ISBN 0415941717.
  • Stableford, Brian M. (1995). Algebraic fantasies and realistic romances: more masters of science fiction. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 0893702838.
  • Stableford, Brian M. (1998). Space, Time, and Infinity: Essays on Fantastic Literature. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 0809519119.
  • Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Headline. ISBN 0330420054.
  • Thriller 25: The Book (2008). Thriller 25: The Book. ML Publishing Group. ISBN 9780976889199.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Wasser, Frederick (2001). Veni, vidi, video: the Hollywood empire and the VCR. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292791461.
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