\u2013John Landis in I Want My MTV: The Uncensored History of the Music Video Revolution<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the advent of MTV in 1981, there has been a steady stream of films by directors who got their start making music videos, but it didn\u2019t take long for that stream to flow in the opposite direction. In 1984 alone, Paul Bartel directed a Christine McVie video, Brian De Palma shot \u201cDancing in the Dark\u201d for Bruce Springsteen, and Sam Peckinpah wound down his career with a pair of Julian Lennon clips. In time, even Martin Scorsese could be enticed to direct a long-form video for Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cBad.\u201d The most famous example from the channel\u2019s early years, however, was \u201cThriller.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seventh and final single from Jackson\u2019s album of the same name, which was already well on its way to being the best-selling record in history, \u201cThriller\u201d was surprisingly only the third to get the video treatment. When his record company balked at financing it, Jackson took the bold step of producing it himself, and handpicked John Landis to direct based on his admiration for An American Werewolf in London<\/em>. The pitch was simple: Jackson wanted to turn into a monster. With the help of Landis\u2019s good friend, makeup effects legend Rick Baker, he was able to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From its inception, Michael Jackson\u2019s Thriller<\/em> would be no ordinary video. Having shattered MTV\u2019s color barrier with \u201cBillie Jean\u201d and \u201cBeat It,\u201d Jackson worked with Landis to craft a 14-minute short that could \u2013 and does \u2013 stand on its own. While \u201cBeat It\u201d had the briefest of intros before the song kicks in, \u201cThriller\u201d starts with the short\u2019s raison d’\u00eatre<\/em>, a scene right out of I Was a Teenage Werewolf<\/em> in which Jackson transforms into a werecat and attacks the girl he\u2019s just given his high school ring to \u201cmake it official.\u201d True, he tried to warn her he\u2019s \u201cnot like other guys,\u201d but the truth of that only becomes apparent when the moon comes out, accompanied by Elmer Bernstein\u2019s music from American Werewolf<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compared to the transformation in that film, the one Jackson endures is less time- and labor-intensive (it\u2019s over in about 30 seconds), but the final, feral form Baker designed is no less impressive. As Jackson leans in for the kill, Landis cuts to a movie theater audience jumping out of their seats, a rug-pull moment akin to the nested nightmares in American Werewolf<\/em>, and a sign the viewer, much like Jackson\u2019s spooked date, can\u2019t take anything for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not until Jackson\u2019s girlfriend (Playboy Playmate Ola Ray, who was also in the film-within-the-film) makes them leave that the song finally starts up over a shot of the marquee, revealing they\u2019ve been watching a movie called Thriller<\/em> starring Vincent Price. (This is the same Los Angeles movie theater where the short had its world premiere a week and a half before its MTV debut.) Rather than play the song straight through, the video puts all three verses back to back while Jackson sings to Ray as they walk down a dark street. Then it transitions to Price\u2019s narration over shots of Baker\u2019s zombies emerging from their graves to surround the terrified couple. Only Ray is truly in danger, though, since the camera turns around to show Jackson is also undead. He briefly reverts to his human form for the song\u2019s chorus, leading the remarkably agile zombies in a dance routine that continues to be emulated by groups of dancers to this day, followed by a siege right out of Night of the Living Dead<\/em>, a genuinely scary sequence setting up the last fake-out and a final freeze-frame that literally gives Price the last laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With its high production values, movie-quality special effects, and ambitious structure, Thriller<\/em> was unlike anything seen on MTV in its first two years on the air. Just as An American Werewolf in London<\/em> alternated between horror and comedy in a way that took audiences by surprise<\/a>, Thriller<\/em> represented the union of Jackson\u2019s and Landis\u2019s sensibilities, combining the former\u2019s showmanship and eagerness to entertain with the latter\u2019s unpredictable sense of humor. By demonstrating music videos could be more than just tossed-off advertisements, they set the bar high for all who came after them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they didn\u2019t stop there, since the short\u2019s production was documented by a \u201cmaking of\u201d special that was also sold to television and released on home video. With its candid interviews and glimpses behind the scenes \u2013 not to mention the short itself \u2013 Making Michael Jackson\u2019s Thriller<\/em> proved the public\u2019s hunger for all things Michael Jackson was insatiable. From there, he reunited with his brothers for a Victory<\/em> lap and forged ahead with other music and film projects, including the Disney attraction Captain EO<\/em> and the feature film Moonwalker<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for Landis, Thriller<\/em> capped off a year that also saw the release of Trading Places<\/em>, one of his biggest hits, and Twilight Zone: The Movie<\/em>, which came back to haunt him<\/a> when he was ordered to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. He still had the massively successful Coming to America<\/em> ahead of him, though, and a reunion with Jackson for the video for \u201cBlack or White,\u201d which was less harmonious than their first collaboration. By the time that came along in 1991, he was dealing with a very different Michael Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMichael Jackson\u2019s Thriller\u201d isn\u2019t on any streaming service, but it\u2019s not hard to dig up if you go looking.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/thriller2-1024x576.jpg\")
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