History Music / MichaelJacksonsThriller

Multiple sources have hailed ''Michael Jackson's Thriller'' as the turning point for the music video medium, turning it into, as director Brian Grant has said, a "proper industry". Nina Blackwood, MTV VJ and executive, noted how music videos began to become more sophisticated--for better or for worse.

Not long after Jackson's death was announced in 2009, many fans around the world honoured him by performing the dance number. At the end of that year, ''Thriller'' was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry. It is currently the only music video to be preserved by the United States Library of Congress.

* BodyHorror: The zombies.

* CreatorInJoke: Landis usually inserts a reference to the nonexistent film ''See You Next Wednesday'' into each of his works. Here, the title is spoken during the monster movie as Michael follows his date out of the theater.

* CreatorInJoke: Landis usually inserts a reference to a nonexistent film, ''See You Next Wednesday'', into each of his works. Here, the title is spoken during the monster movie, as Michael follows his date out of the theater.

* CreatorInJoke: Landis usually inserts a reference to a nonexistent film, ''See You Next Wednesday'' into each of his works. Here, the title is spoken during the monster movie, as Michael follows his date out of the theater.

* SpecialGuest: Creator/VincentPrice recites a spooktastic soliloquy (referred to in the credits as a "rap") as the undead begin to stir.

The music video literally drove the popularity of the album, being no small part of it becoming the biggest-selling album of all time. But while today it is pretty much universally loved, in spite of future issues in Michael's life, it was not without controversy at the time; both Landis and Ray would end up suing Michael in separate disputes over royalties. Both were settled; Ray's dispute was settled after Michael's death, having been brought only two months prior.

* MidVidSkit: Taken to an extreme. Compared to the album version of "Thriller," the song here is reshuffled, abridged and interrupted several times in service of this video's plot line.

* SpecialGuest: Creator/VincentPrice reads a soliloquy, which is placed at the end of the album version of the song, but moved to the middle of the video, ending right as Michael and his girlfriend encounter the zombies.

* ZombieGait: Lampshaded. The zombies shamble around like your typical undead... until the big dance number. The trope resumes the moment the dancing stops.

* BodyHorror: Quite a smorgasbord for such a short film, and a music video at that. Take your pick:
** Michael transforms graphically and painfully into a werecat, each stage depicted with excruciating detail.
** The zombies, while not particularly bloody or gory, still have limbs falling off and black bile oozing out of their mouths.
** Zombie Michael himself, while by far the least gruesome of the horde, still qualifies when contrasted with "regular" Michael.

* AgainstMyReligion: The video begins with a carefully-worded intertitle from Michael Jackson, emphasizing that he doesn't ''really'' approve of zombies and monsters just because they're in his music video. This statement, ghostwritten by John Landis and inserted at the last minute, was a [[DamageControl panicked effort]] to appease the Jehovah's Witnesses, of whom Jackson was a member at the time. (Jehovahs believe the deceased will rise again after the second coming of Christ, and some take offense at trivial depictions of undead people.) Jackson waited until ''after'' the video was finished to get approval from his elders, who promptly kicked him out of their religion after screening an advance copy. He immediately called up his record company in hysterics, begging them to cancel the video's premiere and burn the negatives. After calming down, he settled for Landis' opening disclaimer instead. (It didn't work; the Jehovahs refused to take Jackson back.)

* LyricsVideoMismatch: Upon close examination of the lyrics to "Thriller," it's actually a ''love song.''

* ZombieGait: The zombies shamble around like your typical undead... until the big dance number. The trope resumes the moment the dancing stops.

* MidVidSkit: Taken to an extreme. The song––ostensibly the main focus of any typical music video––is cut up, reshuffled, and interrupted many times in service of this video's plot line.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Emphasized by also serving as a subtle ShoutOut to the "Beat It" video, Jackson's previous music video before this one. After the undead all rise from their graves in pursuit of Michael, a single zombie inexplicably opens a manhole cover and emerges. The same exact thing happened (with some gangsters) in "Beat It."

* OrWasItADream: At the end of the story, a seemingly normal Michael turns back to the camera, to reveal the yellow eyes of his werecat form.

* ZombieGait: The zombies walk slowly towards Michael and his girlfriend... but once the dance starts, they're as mobile as regular humans. The trope resumes the moment the dancing stops.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thriller_end.png

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* UncreditedRole: None of the zombie dancers are named in the end credits.

* CutawayGag: In the middle of the chorus, the scene cuts briefly to a separate quartet of zombies grooving on their own. (One of them appears to be doing the Robot.)

** Michael transforms graphically and painfully into a werecat, with each stage depicted with excruciating detail.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The monster movie that Michael and his girlfriend are watching in this music video, ''Michael Jackson's Thriller,'' is itself entitled... ''Thriller.'' (starring Vincent Price!)
* EvilLaugh: Kicks off the end credits, courtesy of Creator/VincentPrice.

''Thriller'' is now a [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] staple, and Michael's red leather jacket became a signature of 1980's fashion.

* AgainstMyReligion: The video begins with a carefully-worded intertitle from Michael Jackson, emphasizing that he doesn't ''really'' approve of zombies and monsters just because they're in his music video. This statement, ghostwritten by John Landis and inserted at the last minute, was an effort to appease the Jehovah's Witnesses, of whom Jackson was a member at the time. (Jehovahs believe the deceased will rise again after the second coming of Christ, and some take offense at trivial depictions of undead people.) Unfortunately, Jackson waited until ''after'' the video was finished to get approval from his elders, who promptly kicked him out of their religion after screening an advance copy. He immediately called up his record company in hysterics, begging them to cancel the video's premiere and burn the negatives. After calming down, he settled for Landis' opening disclaimer instead. (It didn't work; the Jehovahs refused to take Jackson back.)

* AgainstMyReligion: The video begins with a carefully-worded intertitle from Michael Jackson, emphasizing that he doesn't ''really'' approve of zombies and monsters just because they're in his music video. This statement, ghostwritten by John Landis and inserted at the last minute, was an effort to appease the Jehovah's Witnesses, of whom Jackson was a member at the time. (Jehovahs believe the deceased will rise again after the second coming of Christ, and take offense at trivial depictions of undead people.) Unfortunately, Jackson waited until ''after'' the video was finished to get approval from his elders, who promptly kicked him out of their religion after screening an advance copy. Jackson immediately called up his record company in hysterics, begging them to cancel the video's premiere and burn the negative. After calming down, he settled for Landis' opening disclaimer instead. (It didn't work; the Jehovahs refused to take Jackson back.)

* AgainstMyReligion: The video begins with a carefully-worded intertitle from Michael Jackson, emphasizing that he doesn't ''really'' approve of zombies and monsters just because they're in his music video. This statement, ghostwritten by John Landis and inserted at the last minute, was an effort to appease the Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe the deceased will rise again after the second coming of Christ, and take offense at trivial depictions of undead people. Jackson himself was a devout Jehovah's Witness at the time, and waited until ''after'' the video was finished to get approval from his elders, who promptly kicked him out of their religion after screening an advance copy. Jackson immediately called up his record company in hysterics, begging them to cancel the video's premiere and burn the negative. After calming down, he settled for Landis' opening disclaimer instead. (It didn't work; the Jehovahs refused to take Jackson back.)

* CutawayGag: In the middle of the zombie dance climax, the scene cuts briefly to a separate quartet of zombies grooving on their own. (One of them appears to be doing the Robot.)

* EvilLaugh: The album version ends with Creator/VincentPrice doing this. The laugh is placed as part of the OrWasItADream moment in the music video, kicking off the credits.

* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: Zombie Michael, who wears a cut-up, ruined version of "regular" Michael's red jacket.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thriller_e1448027599226_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"I'm not like other guys."]]

''Michael Jackson's Thriller'' is a longform music video directed by Creator/JohnLandis, for the [[TitleTrack title track]] of Music/MichaelJackson's hit 1982 album ''Music/{{Thriller}}''. One of the earliest music videos to blur the line between Hollywood cinema and typical pop music clips, it premiered on Creator/{{MTV}} on December 2, 1983.

''Thriller'' is now a staple of the [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] holiday, and Michael's red leather jacket became one of his signatures.

* CreatorCameo: The bearded zombie emerging from his crypt is played by Rick Baker, the legendary Hollywood makeup artist and lead monster designer for this film.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Emphasized by also serving as a subtle ShoutOut to the "Beat It" video, Jackson's previous music video before this one. As the undead all rise from their graves in pursuit of Michael, a single zombie inexplicably opens a manhole cover and emerges. The same exact thing happened (with some gangsters) in "Beat It."

* TheNotRemix: The song was completely re-edited for this video: the verses are spliced together in a row, followed by Creator/VincentPrice's soliloquy, then the zombie dance scene, then the full chorus. A replay of the chorus ends the video. (The bridge goes completely unused.)

* TheDeadCanDance: The dance moves performed by the zombies have become such a trademark, that they have been repeatedly saluted--and mercilessly parodied--ever since.

''Michael Jackson's Thriller'' was the music video produced for "Thriller", the TitleTrack, and fourth song overall, from Music/MichaelJackson's [[Music/{{Thriller}} album of the same name]]. As a single, the song itself was released in the United States on January 23, 1984. The music video premiered on Creator/{{MTV}} on December 2, 1983.

The song itself had a pretty good run, but surprisingly only peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, though it did top the ''Radio & Records'' CHR[=/=]{{Pop}} Airplay chart. What set this song apart--and planted it permanently in the global lexicon of planet Earth--was its music video.

* CutawayGag: In the middle of the group dance sequence, the scene cuts briefly to a separate quartet of zombies grooving on their own. (One of them appears to be doing the Robot.)

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thriller_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"I'm not like other guys."]]

* AgainstMyReligion: The video begins with a carefully-worded intertitle from Michael Jackson, emphasizing that he doesn't ''actually'' approve of zombies and monsters just because they're in his music video. This statement, ghostwritten by John Landis and inserted at the last minute, was an effort to appease the Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe the deceased will rise again after the second coming of Christ, and take offense at trivial depictions of undead people. Jackson himself was a devout Jehovah's Witness at the time, and waited until ''after'' the video was finished to get approval from his elders, who promptly kicked him out of their religion after screening an advance copy. Jackson immediately called up his record company in hysterics, begging them to cancel the video's premiere and burn the negative. After calming down, he settled for Landis' opening disclaimer instead. (It didn't work; the Jehovahs refused to take Jackson back.)

** Michael transforms graphically and painfully into a werecat, with each stage shown in excruciating detail.