Line #52 Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thriller_e1448027599226_7.jpg]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:"I'm not like other guys."]]
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7	->''For no mere mortal can resist''\
8	''The evil of... the'' '''''thriller.'''''
9	-->-- Spoken part by '''Creator/VincentPrice'''
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11	"Michael Jackson's Thriller" is a longform music video directed by Creator/JohnLandis for the TitleTrack of Music/MichaelJackson's 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.
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13	The video came about simply as a way to boost the ''Thriller'' album, which was nearly a year out from its original release in November 1982 and slipping down the charts, back up to number one. And it worked -- though not necessarily because of the song itself, which hadn't actually been released as a single until well after the video premiered. What set this song apart -- and planted it permanently in the global lexicon of planet Earth -- was its music video.
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15	The video had a full runtime of 13 minutes and 42 seconds. The FramingDevice was a young man (played by Michael) taking his girlfriend (played by Ola Ray) to see a monster movie -- the couple in ''that'' film were also played by Jackson and Ray. While walking home from the film, they are suddenly surrounded by zombies.
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17	[[TheReveal Then Michael becomes a zombie]].
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19	[[TheDeadCanDance And all the zombies start dancing]].
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21	[[MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody And the rest is history]].
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23	This music video helped seal the ''Thriller'' album's place in history, and helped it become the biggest-selling album of all time. But while today it is pretty much universally loved, 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.
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25	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.
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27	While the video did ''not'' win the overall Video of the Year award at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, it did take home three Moonmen, including the Viewer's Choice award, and Best Choreography. A making-of documentary would win the Grammy for Best Video Album at the 27th Grammy Awards.
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29	Not long after Jackson's death in 2009, fans all over the world paid their respects by re-enacting the dance sequences from the video. 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.
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32	''Michael Jackson's Thriller'' is now a [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve Halloween]] staple, and Jackson's red leather jacket became a signature of [[TheEighties 1980s]] fashion.
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34	! Personnel
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36	* Rod Temperton - songwriting
37	* Quincy Jones - producer
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39	----
40	!!It's close to midnight, and something evil's troping in the dark:
41	* AgainstMyReligion: The video begins with a carefully-worded intertitle from Music/MichaelJackson, emphasizing that he doesn't ''really'' approve of zombies and monsters just because they're in his music video. This statement, ghostwritten by Creator/JohnLandis 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. (Jehovah's Witnesses 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 ''[[BavarianFireDrill after]]'' the video was finished to get approval from his elders, who threatened to excommunicate him after screening an advance copy. He immediately called up his record company in panic, begging them to [[BuryYourArt cancel the video's premiere and burn the negatives]]. After calming down, he settled for Landis' opening disclaimer instead.
42	* BodyHorror: Though not particularly bloody or gory, the zombies still have limbs falling off and black bile oozing from their mouths.
43	* CreatorCameo: The bearded zombie emerging from his crypt is played by Rick Baker, legendary Hollywood makeup artist and lead monster designer for this film.
44	* 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.
45	* CreditsGag: Like in ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'', Landis puts the disclaimer "ThisIsAWorkOfFiction — any resemblance to actual persons living, dead, or undead..."
46	* CrystalBallScheduling: Michael and his girlfriend just happen to be watching a movie about a man who turns into a supernatural being and terrorizes his lover.
47	* TheDeadCanDance: The dance moves performed by the zombies have become such a trademark, that they have been repeatedly saluted––and relentlessly parodied––ever since.
48	* TheDeadHaveEyes: Most of the zombies do have eyes, including Zombie Michael.
49	* DeadWeight: There's at least one obese, bald zombie among the horde.
50	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The monster movie that Michael and his girlfriend are watching in this music video, ''Michael Jackson's Thriller,'' is itself entitled... ''Thriller.'' (starring Creator/VincentPrice!)
51	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: Things start off with Werecat Michael, and then a bunch of zombies turn up.
52	* EvilLaugh: Creator/VincentPrice's malevolent cackling, which ends the song in the album, kicks off the end credits.
53	* FaceRevealingTurn: At the end of the video Michael turns his head to the camera [[spoiler:to show his werecat-like eyes.]]
54	* IconicOutfit: Michael's red leather jacket and matching jeans are instantly recognisable.
55	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Originally billed as "Michael Jackson's Thriller", though because of its popularity it's now commonly known as just "Thriller".
56	* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: Zombie Michael, who wears a cut-up, ruined version of "regular" Michael's red leather jacket.
57	* LyricsVideoMismatch: Upon close examination of the lyrics to "Thriller," it's essentially a ''love song.'' Justified, since the song's was originally supposed to be a love song called "Starlight", before getting re-written.
58	* MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody: Naturally, the TropeNamer and TropeCodifier.
59	* MidVidSkit: One of the earliest known examples of this trope, and taken to an extreme in this video. 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.
60	* MusicVideoOvershadowing: The lyrics depict a guy teasing his girl about how she's afraid of the horror movies they watch together. The video uses this as a starting point, and then extrapolates things ''quite'' a bit further.
61	* MythologyGag: In the middle of the chorus, [[CutawayGag the scene cuts briefly]] to a separate quartet of zombies dancing on their own. One of them is attempting to do [[https://youtu.be/CrTp4-3HQ0Y the Robot.]]
62	* NestedStoryReveal: This music video is composed of several stories within a story.
63	* NightmareFetishist: Michael seems to be the only person in the theater who's totally unfazed by the monster movie.
64	* NoNameGiven: Ola Ray's character is never named, either during the video or in the credits.
65	* 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 instrumental dance scene, then the full chorus. A reprise of the chorus ends the video. (The bridge goes completely unused.)
66	* OrWasItADream: At the end of the story, a seemingly normal Michael turns back to the camera, revealing the yellow eyes of his werecat form.
67	* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: Michael turns into a were''cat''.
68	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: These zombies can ''[[TheDeadCanDance dance]]''.
69	* PassThePopcorn: Michael cheerfully munches on popcorn as his girlfriend and the rest of the theatre are cowering in terror at the monster movie.
70	* PeriodPiece: The opening sequence is a pastiche of old [[TheFifties 1950s]] monster movies, most obviously 1957's ''Film/IWasATeenageWerewolf''.
71	* PopCulturalOsmosis: It's safe to say that this music video is much more famous than the song it's based on.
72	* ProsceniumReveal: The opening sequence is revealed to be a film-within-a-film.
73	* RecursiveReality: Michael and his girlfriend are watching a monster movie starring... themselves.
74	* ResistTheBeast: In the opening monster movie, Michael tries to warn his girlfriend about how he's "different," but is interrupted by his gruesome transformation into a werecat.
75	* RiseFromYourGrave: Happens as Michael and his girlfriend skip hand-in-hand past a CreepyCemetery.
76	* ShapeshiftingLover: Step forward, Michael Jackson.
77	* ShowWithinAShow: The monster movie within the music video. And on top of that, that turned out to be AllJustADream... [[OrWasItADream wasn't it?]]
78	* SpecialGuest: Creator/VincentPrice recites a spooktastic soliloquy (referred to in the credits as a "[[TotallyRadical rap]]") as the undead begin to stir.
79	* SuperStrength:
80	** Werecat Michael breaks a small tree in half with a single backhanded strike.
81	** A zombie opens its tomb lid, made of solid marble, from the inside, with one hand.
82	** Zombie Michael busts down a locked door with his bare hands.
83	** A zombie punches his way into a room, up through the floorboards.
84	* SurrealMusicVideo: Enough said.
85	* TransformationHorror: Michael's PainfulTransformation into a werecat, depicted with excruciating detail.
86	* TalkyBookends: One of the earliest examples in a music video.
87	* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: The video ends with the disclaimer "All characters and events in this film are fictitious. Any similarities to actual events or persons living, dead, (or undead) is purely coincidental."
88	* TwistEnding: Three of them, arguably. [[spoiler: The werecat transformation in the beginning is actually a movie, Michael's girlfriend being attacked by zombies was AllJustADream, and in the end Michael is revealed to still have cat eyes.]]
89	* VertigoEffect: Michael's girlfriend's reaction shot, when she first sees him in zombie form.
90	* AWildRapperAppears: Vincent Price providing the "Thriller Rap" as per the song, although the video moves the rap into the middle part instead of the end, as Price's hammy narrative plays while the dead rise from the nearby cemetery and sewers.
91	* ZombieApocalypse: For Michael and his girlfriend, at least.
92	* ZombieGait: Lampshaded. The zombies shamble around like your typical living dead... until the big dance number. The trope resumes the moment the dancing stops.
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Context Music / MichaelJacksonsThriller