It won a Grammy for best music video. Millions of people who somehow hadn't yet purchased Thriller were inspired to do so, and during the peak of the video's popularity, the album sold more than a million copies a week, according to Vanity Fair. She ends up shoving him out of a car and leaving him in the dust and goes into a rebellious phase. There's nothing flashy about the video, but the choreography was an instant hit and easy enough for people to learn. And his "Hammer pants" are iconic. It's easy to overlook this fact, but M. Night . A YouTube video of more than 1,500 prisoners performing the dance attracted 14 million views by 2010. The Spice Girls video for "Wannabe" is entirely one-shot and shows the girls taking over the St. Pancras Grand Hotel in London. At Murphy's insistence, the film was played again. Missy Elliot is also featured in the video and song. A particular trademark of the series' storytelling was to hook the viewer with a simple yet totally baffling situation, of the kind seen in films such as Les Diaboliques (1955). Set in a futuristic looking white room, the video stands out for the illusions it features. features a band called the Love Below performing on a London show as a bunch of women scream in excitement. She has visions of her dead lover in the mansion and remembers moments when they were together. Walking down a city street at night, Jackson teases her by performing the verses of "Thriller". This brilliant video won the VMA for video of the year. The original UK title sequence featured still shots of locations in the story, devoid of people, shot through a fisheye lens, bordered in bright red and set to Johnson's eerie, discordant theme music. The band's front man lifts a bus up off a girl at some point and saves a dog from a fire. 6 Vogue Madonnna. A musical number set to "Thriller" (the song) would comprise most of the video, but it would also have a scripted drawing device. John Landis was in London in 1983 when Michael Jackson called to ask if he was interested in making a video for Thriller, the title track of the album he'd released a little under a year before. [10], In 1984, the National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) reviewed 200 MTV videos and classified more than half as too violent, including Thriller. The film had a brief theatrical release in Los Angeles at the AVCO Theater - it played for three weeks along with Disney's. Directed by Spike Jonze ("Her"), the "Buddy Holly" video places the band in Arnold's Drive-In from the show "Happy Days." 8 Say You . They pass a graveyard, where zombies rise from their graves and surround them in the street. "[8] Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested making a music video for it, and recalled telling Jackson: "It's simpleall you've got to do is dance, sing, and make it scary. Taking place on New Year's Eve, the video shows J-Lo and her friends getting ready for a party. 1 Thriller Michael Jackson. "I recall everybody at college talking about it; about how it was like a mini-movie and how much it had cost. I was at boarding school at the time & we were allowed to stay up to watch it. The Thriller video sent album sales into orbit, with Jackson's label Epic reportedly shipping a million copies a week in its immediate aftermath. Jackson was all in, especially after Landis said he could probably get An American Werewolf in London makeup master Rick Baker involved. Part of a longer movie, the "Runaway" music video features Kanye West playing a white piano as a ballet troupe dressed all in black dance near him. It was (as others have said) billed as a "The Tube" special. When antler boy runs to his side, he realizes that the man has deer hooves for legs. He was tortured, but he was happy-go-lucky for a lot of it. The black-and-white "Rhythm Nation" video is known for its military-style outfits, warehouse setting, and choreography, which has inspired numerous dance routines since the video was released. Also, the group performs in water and in liquefied forms in front of a waterfall. Nevertheless, the Thriller video was set to be so expensive $900,000, to pay for not just the filming and effects but 10 days of dance rehearsals that Landis and Jackson had to find a way to fund it (Jackson had paid the $150,000 cost of the Beat It video himself). The LP is only nine tracks long, andseven of those of those were commercially released singles: "The Girl is Mine," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Human Nature," and "P.Y. 55 of the most iconic music videos of all time - Insider In the 1950s, Michael Jackson and a young woman (Ola Ray) run out of gas while driving in a wooded area. When the documentary was released on VHS, selling for $29.95, it attracted more than 100,000 advance orders in its own right. On principle, though, it should be up to the parents to decide , in a situation where a film is being shown that is above the age range for that class. [19] The success transformed Jackson into a dominant force in global pop culture, and cemented his status as the "king of pop". They won the MTV VMA for video of year. The Library of Congress described it as the most famous music video of all time, and it has been named the greatest video by various publications and readers' polls. Some music videos are more memorable than others. The "Honey" video starts with Mariah Carey as a Bond-esque spy named Agent M who is being held hostage by an organization known as D.U.N.C.E. [4] The series evolved from Clemens' previous work, in particular two films in a similar style: And Soon the Darkness (1970) and Blind Terror (aka See No Evil, 1971); the latter shares plot similarities with the Thriller episodes "The Eyes Have It" and "The Next Voice You See". The video tells a romantic story through a mix of live-action and pencil-sketch animation. Fans worldwide re-enact its zombie dance and it remains popular on YouTube. Jackson embraces her, but turns to the camera and grins, revealing his werecat eyes. Before We Die | All 4 - Channel 4 The 30 Best British TV Shows You Need to Binge This Year - Town & Country At one point, she climbs up the building to a room where Paul McCoy and the rest of the band are playing music. "It had some magic that made it shine. The actress claimed that back in the 1980s, she was promised a portion of the "Thriller" profits (2.5 percent, according to Courthouse News), and yet, more than two decades later, she hadn't received any money since some initial payments. Ray Tintori, who did MGMT's Kids is really good, too. It's like he's disconnected from everything and everyone, and that's exciting. Prime Video has released the new trailer for its upcoming, star-studded, spy thriller Citadel.. at the Disco's first music video features a wedding where the bride's family is asleep and have their faces and eyelids painted. However, after the new channel Showtime agreed to pay half the budget, MTV agreed to pay the rest, justifying the expenditure as financing for a motion picture and not a music video. And Chris Milk the [interactive] stuff he's doing, like The Wilderness Downtown with Arcade Fire and The Johnny Cash Project could never have been done in the 90s. From the movie theater setting that resulted in the popular "Michael Jackson eating popcorn" GIF to the choreographed zombie dance, it's 14 minutes of pure enjoyment. Six Girls Aloud videos later and Thriller is still part of Bellinger's life. He worked very hard. "Everybody Hurts" is a heavy song, and the corresponding video highlights the emotional lyrics. The first thing he said to me when he came out of school was 'Are zombies real, mum?'. Her use of religious symbols caused controversy, and the Vatican even condemned it. In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the video for the National Film Registry. The video was directed by John Landis, written by Landis and Jackson, and stars Jackson and Ola Ray. [2] As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits. The initial image is one that has defined the band since. Thriller was an event even when it was being shot in October 1983. Prime Video releases trailer for new spy thriller Citadel, starring [12][18] After each broadcast, MTV advertised when they would next play it, and recorded audience figures ten times the norm. In 2008 a DVD box set containing all six series was released. [8] Epic had little interest in making another video for Thriller, believing that the album had peaked,[10] and eventually agreed to contribute only $100,000. It starts with a woman flipping through a comic book when the character reaches out to her and pulls her in. Why did you need to stay up late if you were 'tape'ing it? NCTV chairman Thomas Radecki said: "It's not hard to imagine young viewers after seeing Thriller saying, 'Gee, if Michael Jackson can terrorize his girlfriend, why can't I do it too? Instead, he thought, it would be shot like a real movie, on classy 35-millimeter film stock. In 2017, it was remastered from the original 35mm negative and converted into 3D under John Landis' supervision. [6] According to Peter Dendle, the zombie invasion sequence was inspired by Night of the Living Dead (1968). "As soon as the Americans got involved, things became monetised, turning music videos into a proper industry, which operated alongside MTV. She leaps and hang over the cars with a rope and flip her ex off is iconic. She ran around with her friends bothering patrons and employees, trying on a bunch of clothes, and making a giant mess. The 13-minute film that resulted changed the music video for ever, becoming less a promo clip than a cultural phenomenon. At the time, music videos cost around one hundred thousand dollars to produce. The Best British Spy Shows to Watch on Netflix and Hulu - Vulture It is a complete and full-featured suite which provides cutting-edge editing tools, motion graphics, visual effects, animation, and more that can enhance your video projects. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. A-ha pushed boundaries with their creative video, actually the song's second video, for "Take on Me." There's a lot to unpack in Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" video. Michael Jackson seems like this kid who loves music, horror films, special effects, makeup, zombies and wants all of those things in the video. With James Purefoy, Charlie Creed-Miles, Sasha Behar, Dervla Kirwan. [23] He said it was the "mini-movie that revolutionized music videos" and "cemented Jackson's status as one of the most ambitious, innovative pop stars of all time". "I loved it," he says. My Chemical Romance is on a float leading the parade of masked figures in what looks to be a wasteland. The Gorillaz are known for their animations, but it all started with their first single from their debut, "Clint Eastwood." [35] It was remastered in IMAX 3D for a limited engagement in 2018, preceding screenings of The House With a Clock in Its Walls in North America for its first week. [3], The series was created by Brian Clemens, who also scripted the majority of the episodes and story-lined every installment. 12 Psychological Thrillers on Amazon Prime - PureWow [42], number of copies sold were 900,000 at a price of $30, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, YouTube video of more than 1,500 prisoners performing the dance, Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, "Director: Funds for "Thriller" almost didn't appear", "Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is the eternal Halloween bop and so much more", "John Landis says Michael Jackson was too 'grotesque' to film: Howell", "How Michael Jackson's Thriller changed music videos for ever", "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is the eternal Halloween bop and so much more", "Michael Jackson's Life & Legacy: Global Superstar (198286)", "It Happened This Week in L.A. History: Silver Screen Thrills Los Angeles Magazine", "Michael Jackson's videos set a new standard", "VH1 Names '100 Greatest Videos of All Time', "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Added To National Film Registry", "MTV: 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made", "The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos Michael Jackson, 'Thriller', "Jackson "Thriller" film picked for U.S. registry", "Michael Jackson's Thriller added to US film archive", "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' remains a Halloween hit", "Barack and Michelle Obama make Halloween a thriller for DC kids", "John Landis on 'Thriller 3D', the 'American Werewolf' Remake, & Lucasfilm's Director Troubles", "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Could be Broadway Show", "Review: Masterful Plants vs. Zombies Proves Less Is More", "Plants vs. Zombies (Windows, Mac OS X) - the Cutting Room Floor", "Michael Jackson Estate Forces 'Plants vs. Zombies' Update", "Monster Metaphors: Notes on Michael Jackson's Thriller", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Jackson%27s_Thriller_(music_video)&oldid=1142427273, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 09:09. Cyrus' provocative videos were a shock to people who had watched her on "Hannah Montana.". But then there's also some random dance scenes with her on a boat. She gets a tattoo and a belly button piercing. [8], Thriller was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the zombie sequence at the junction of Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street in East Los Angeles, and the final house scene at 1345 Carroll Avenue in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood of Echo Park. "Above all, it's just this amazing documentation of Michael Jackson at his most electric," he says. ThrillerVideo ThrillerVideo was a horror home video series that began being released in February 1985 to 1987 by U.S.A. Home Video and International Video Entertainment (I.V.E.). Jackson becomes a zombie himself and dances with the horde to the song. As the band and hundreds of other people are stuck in a traffic jam, the camera pans to various individuals sitting in their car with subtitles describing their thoughts. [41] The lawsuit was settled in 2012 for an undisclosed amount. 1 Thriller Michael Jackson 2 Bohemian Rhapsody Queen 3 Take On Me A-ha 4 My Heart Will Go On Celine Dion 5 Virtual Insanity Jamiroquai 6 Vogue Madonnna 7 Fastlove George Michael 8 Say You'll Be There Spice Girls 9 Earth Song Michael Jackson 10 Sledgehammer Peter Gabriel, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. [23], Michael Jackson's Thriller was named the "greatest video" by MTV in 1999,[24] and by VH1[22] and Time in 2001. I remember watching it in a pub called "Woosters" (aka as wasters) in Lady Lawson Street in Edinburgh. In August 1983, film director John Landis received a phone call from Michael Jackson. The big turning point was Thriller.". [8] Branca mollified Jackson by suggesting they include a disclaimer at the start of the film stating that it did not reflect Jackson's personal convictions. What worries me a bit is the kids who have a bit of bravado, and don't admit they are afraid, and then have nightmares. Here, in no particular order, are the eight best thrillers on Prime Video. According to Baker, he technically portrays a "werecat. Michael Jackson Thriller video UK TV premiere 1983 ", Jonze took the freedom he sensed in Thriller and also its eccentricity and humour and ran with it, creating some of the 90s' most famous music videos, including the Beastie Boys' Sabotage and Praise You by Fatboy Slim, which also get continually spoofed. During all the chaos, lead singer Brendon Urie is the ringmaster. 08/07/2009 17:32. It was also the first big break for drag queen RuPaul. It's simple, yet incredibly impressive. The band is performing at a high school pep rally where cheerleaders have the circle-A anarchy symbol on their chests. 1983 - Channel 4 premiere of Michael Jackson's Thriller video Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. In 1984, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller won the Grammy Award for Best Video Album, and in a 1999 end-of-the-century countdown, MTV named "Thriller" the #1 music video of all time. [10] It includes home video footage of a young Jackson dancing and footage of his performances from The Ed Sullivan Show and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. Early music videos were usually shot on video, not film, adding a cheap look to a cheap production a singer or a band might do little more than stand in an unadorned studio and lip-sync to their recording. However, Epic wouldn't pay for it the label spent $250,000 on the video for "Billie Jean" but made Jackson pay the $150,000 budget for "Beat It" himself. From "Leave it to Beaver" to Marilyn Manson to Bill Clinton to "The Brady Bunch," Eminem doesn't hold back on pop culture references or the barbs he makes in his lyrics. It doubled sales of Thriller, helping it become the best-selling album in history, and the documentary sold over a million copies, becoming the best-selling videotape at the time. Watch the red dress video here the white dress video here. The girls are together when the guy comes knocking and slam the door in his face. Michael Jackson had a huge 1983. The video is as fun as the song itself. The short film was packaged on home video with The Making of 'Thriller' (1983) as "Making Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'", which became the world's best-selling VHS musical. [8] Thriller is popular on YouTube, which hosts user-submitted videos of reenactments of the dance. Jackson stayed in the projection booth, declining Ray's invitation to join the audience. [38][39] The description of the Dancing Zombie in the game paraphrased the disclaimer at the end of Thriller. In May 2009, Ray sued Jackson, along with his production company, for breach of contract. It won a Grammy as part of a long-form video project titled "Rhythm Nation 1814 Film.". Jackson's character takes his date (Ola Ray) to a horror movie and then makes her life into one when he transforms into a monstrous creature and leads a horde of other scary creatures both ghoulish and undead. [10] MTV, which had found success with Jackson's earlier videos, had a policy of not financing music videos, instead expecting record companies to pay for them. So in the beginning of the video, Michael has a message stating that "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film is no way endorses a belief in the occult". Registered in England. 4 My Heart Will Go On Celine Dion. The video even won a Grammy. | Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). [14] According to Landis, the production involved the largest makeup team in film history up to that point, with 40 makeup artists. This idea was replaced with a two-legged monster, as this made it easier for him to dance. The singer and the filmmaker met, and Landis dismissed the notion of presenting "Thriller" as a typical, cheaply made music video. Directed by F. Gary Gray, who also directed "Straight Out of Compton" and "The Fate of the Furious," the "Waterfalls" video is emotional. It may seem odd to have a cat playing her love interest as she sings about loving a guy despite their differences, yet that's the theme of the video. The cultural event that was the video for "Thriller" pushed sales of the single, too, and the song hit #4 on the pop chart. And it ended up being the most iconic," she said. Connections [10] MTV paid $250,000 for the exclusive rights to show the documentary; Showtime paid $300,000 for pay-cable rights. [8] According to Landis, the response was "a surprise to everyone but Michael". I remember watching it on C4 late at night. 'The Consultant' on Prime Video: That Bizarre Ending Explained One major part of the early concept was rejected. After all, if they're going to pay a few hundreds bucks for a ticket, patrons can at least have some idea of what they're getting into beforehand when they line up to see Mean Girls (based on a hit movie) or Mamma Mia! "The Thriller video became a worldwide megahit and an iconic pop culture phenomenon that has continued to generate profits for defendants Optimum Productions and Michael Jackson, who have wrongfully refused to pay or account for such profits to plaintiff," the suit read (via The Guardian). They are all dressed in lingerie in a cabaret setting resembling the real Moulin Rouge. ", In fact, says Dave Ma another up-and-coming film-maker who's worked with Foals and Delphic directors now have no choice but to be as unconventional as Landis 30 years ago, because their work needs to rise above all the junk online: "The emergence of YouTube has given us a plethora of mindless throw-away 'content'. "The thrill is gone," suggested the Melody Maker in its review of the album, and it wasn't until videos for Billie Jean and Beat It hit heavy rotation on MTV in early 1983, and Jackson performed the Moonwalk for the first time on the Motown 25 TV special in May, that it really took off. Directed by Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, the video follows a man, whose face is never shown, as he rescues a baby, a dog, and grabs a photo from a burning building. "[8] According to Vanity Fair, Jackson preferred "benign Disney-esque fantasies where people were nice and children were safe", which ensured the video would be "creepy-comical, not genuinely terrifying". Then it shifts to the musicians performing on stage. The video also features a striking shot of Madonna dancing in front of burning crosses. The simple black-and-white video features Beyonc in a leotard flanked on either side by a dancer in a similar outfit. Born August 24, 1928, Died October 19, 1961, Resurrected December 3, 1983. Landis said he would do the video if it could be a short film, and Jackson embraced the idea. He's taking things to a whole new place. We can only really go by the experience of our own DCs, though. [6] Jackson's make-up casts "a ghostly pallor" over his skin and emphasizes the outline of his skull, an allusion to the mask from The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Jackson and the zombies chase his girlfriend into an abandoned house. The bride leaves the altar, and when the groom follows, he sees her making out with one of the guests outside. "In adolescence, youngsters begin to grow hair in unexpected places and parts of their anatomy swell and grow," Landis wrote in Monsters in Movies. It won the MTV video of the year award. Branca wouldn't do it, and he instead locked up the footage and gave Jackson the idea to let "Thriller" out, but just with a denouncing disclaimer tacked on to the start. On June 27, 2011, the red jacket Jackson wore in this video sold for 1.8 million dollars at Julien's Auctions of Beverly Hills. Less than two years later, sister network VH1 would also name "Thriller" the top video ever made. Landis and Jackson worked out a story about a guy who takes a young woman on a date and transforms into a bloodthirsty horror movie monster before her very eyes. Before We Die. This short film displays the absolute highest standard in music video and no-one will ever be able to out-beat this 'King Of Pop' masterpiece! The girlfriend leaves, scared by the film. 7 Fastlove George Michael. Miss Scarlet and The Duke, starring Kate Phillips and Stuart Martin, is a high-octane, smart and sassy mystery series filled set in 1882 . In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Each girl shows off her personality as they move throughout the hotel, making a mess and causing general chaos. The "All the Small Things" video is a hilarious parody of other boy bands and pop artists of the '90s. One of the lengthiest music videos made at the time, running for 14 minutes and 7 seconds. [12] Perhaps the most ingenious[editorializing] episode is the Dial M for Murder-style "The Double Kill", in which a man hires a hitman to kill his wife, but makes a fatal error in his otherwise meticulous planning. It was filmed at various locations in Los Angeles, including the Palace Theater. A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a hoard of bloodthirsty zombies - only a "Thriller" can save them now. Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Eventually, she stands on the edge of an overpass preparing to jump when her ex shows up with a bunch of cops. 9 with Earth Song from his 1996 album HIStory. Thriller voted best video in history | UK news | The Guardian All Rights Reserved. It got video of the year at the MTV VMAs. There's even data to suggest that the existence of Making Michael Jackson's Thriller helped fuel the massive rise of VCR sales in late 1983. [11] One episode, "Screamer", concerns a rape victim who murders her attacker, only to then see the man stalking her everywhere. Contents 1 Background 2 Releases 2.1 Hosted by Elvira 2.2 Non-Elvira releases 3 References 4 External links Background [ edit] There are shots of Missy covered in bees and tributes to the late Aaliyah and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes spray-painted on the hoods of cars it's truly filled with striking visuals. It's full of genius symbolism and won Lamar a Grammy for best video. Disney star Alyson Stoner broke out in the video as the lead child dancer. The boy returns in ghost form but his mom can't see him, and both the man and woman fade from the video. It was shown on Channel 4 in November 1983 at something like 1 in the morning, as I remember sitting up waiting for it to come on and then being amazed and a little bit scared as I was only 13 at the time. [11] Landis and Jackson conceived a short film shot on 35mm film with the production values of a feature film, with a budget of $900,000, much larger than any previous music video. She screams and wakes up, realizing it was a nightmare. There are also shots of her and her band performing at a skate park. When it was released on VHS in the UK, the short film was given the "15" certificate for its frightening scenes (the rating was later changed to "12" in 2018). There's a lot to process. Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" is an incredible video. A making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to sell to television networks. [22] Gil Kaufman of MTV described the video as "iconic" and felt that it was one of Jackson's most enduring legacies. Jackson, for his part, hadn't seen Landis's films Animal House, The Blues Brothers or Trading Places; he wanted Landis because of An American Werewolf in London. Today everybody is still doing the same thing in music video with dancing and film-based story-lines which he innovated. The "Bad Romance" video is artistic and creative yet political in nature. The Best Thrillers on Netflix Right Now - Collider Fantastic, the full length version, last night on Channel 4. It took videos to another level, but in my world and in the world of artists I was dealing with, it's almost like it didn't relate.". I don't know the answer to that, but I do worry about DCs being desensitised to horrible things. [9][14] Brian Clemens' own favourite episode, "A Coffin for the Bride" (US: Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill), featured a performance from a young Helen Mirren.[15]. In the 1980s, millions of consumers were purchasing their first VCRs. Seemingly unaware of the time difference, Jackson had called at 2am UK time and the sleepy director had to feign knowledge of the song, which he hadn't heard. | And yet despite all these fancy awards, "Thriller" didn't win the one prize that seemed like a lock. [8], Weeks before the premiere, Jackson, then a Jehovah's Witness, was told by the organization leaders that the film promoted demonology and that he would be excommunicated. Directed by John Landis, known for "Animal House" and "An American Werewolf in London," the mini-movie has the perfect horror aesthetic. [7], Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released in November 1982 on Epic Records and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200. [36], A Hollywood production company attempted to turn Jackson's song "Billie Jean", which is also featured on Jackson's Thriller album, into a feature film, but no plans were completed. It starts with the boy band as puppets being controlled by a giant woman. Ending with Alice as a cake that the Mad Hatter and friends consume and a small burp from Petty is just the cherry on top.