Thriller (1983) (V)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

John Landis (written by) and
Michael Jackson (written by)

Release Date:

2 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Romance | Short | Thriller | Music

Plot:

A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a hoard of bloody-thirsty zombies - only "Thriller" can save them now.

Plot Keywords:

Zombie | Dance | Walking Dead | Film In Film | Freeze Frame

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Michael Jackson	...	Michael
Ola Ray	...	Michael's Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vincent Price	...	Narration (voice)
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Man sitting behind Michael, eating popcorn (uncredited)
Reed Armstrong	...	Zombie (uncredited)
Rick Baker	...	Zombie opening crypt door (uncredited)
Miko C. Brando	...	Cinema audience member (uncredited)
Kevin Brennan	...	Zombie (uncredited)
Greg Cannom	...	Zombie in very final frame (uncredited)
John Command	...	Zombie (uncredited)
Richard Gaines	...	Zombie / Dancer (uncredited)
Tony Gardner	...	Zombie From Grave (uncredited)
Janet Jackson	...	Zombie (uncredited)
Ben Lokey	...	Zombie / Dancer (uncredited)
Ned Nalle	...	Deputy (uncredited) (voice)
Michael Peters	...	Zombie (uncredited)

Directed by
John Landis

Writing credits
John Landis		(written by) and
Michael Jackson		(written by)

Produced by
George Folsey Jr.	....	producer
Michael Jackson	....	producer
John Landis	....	producer

Cinematography by
Robert Paynter		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Malcolm Campbell
George Folsey Jr.

Casting by
Mike Fenton

Art Direction by
Charles L. Hughes		(as Charles Hughes)

Costume Design by
Kelly Kimball
Deborah Nadoolman

Makeup Department
Rick Baker	....	special makeup effects creator
Rick Baker	....	special makeup effects design
Kevin Brennan	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Greg Cannom	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)
Tony Gardner	....	makeup effects crew (uncredited)
Tom Hester	....	makeup effects crew (uncredited)
Shawn McEnroe	....	makeup effects crew (uncredited)
David B. Miller	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Dan Allingham	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Sosna	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Dave Stevens	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
Marty Thomas	....	property assistant (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alan B. Samuels	....	sound playback operator
Bruce Cannon	....	sound effects (uncredited)
Michael D. Wilhoit	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Rick Baker	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph D. Steuben	....	camera operator
Bryan Greenberg	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Jeffrey M. Hoffman	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Dennis Young	....	electrician (uncredited)

Music Department
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring engineer

Other crew
Michael Jackson	....	choreographer
Michael Peters	....	choreographer
Norman Winter	....	unit publicist
Kim Blank	....	dancer (uncredited)
Anthony Marinelli	....	programmer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Optimum Productions

Distributors

• Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Music Video (SMV) Enterprises (1996) (USA) (video)
• Vestron Video (1983) (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Rick Baker & EFX (special make-up effects designed & created by)

Other Companies

• Epic Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Michael Jackson's Thriller (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

13 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:Atp | UK:15 | USA:PG | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Rialto Theatre - 1023 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Optimum Productions

Trivia:

The short film was released on home video as "The Making Of Michael Jackson's Thriller", and became the world's largest selling VHS musical.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Michael and his girlfriend are walking by the cemetery, in the first shot (crane shot) the spotlights illuminating the set are visible.

Quotes:

Voice of The Rap: Darkness falls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand / Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorize y'all's neighbourhood / And whosoever shall be found / Without the soul for getting down / Must stand and face the hounds of hell / And rot inside a corpse's shell...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Gorillaz: Phase One - Celebrity Take Down (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Thriller

The Greatest Music Video of All Time!!!

Michael Jackson is amazing. 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! It shows Michael turning into a zombie and dancing in the street with some spectacular choreography. The story is great, the scenes are marvelous, the music is fantastic and overall the clip is fun, eye-popping, spooky and is a real spectacle. Today everybody is still doing the same thing in music video with dancing and film-based story-lines which he innovated. This ground-breaking video is the toast of MTV and will forever be remembered for what is the greatest music video of all time!!