It has been forty years since Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video premiered on MTV. It was December 2, 1983, to be exact, when the public first saw the extraordinary 14-minute musical-horror movie.
This is one of those iconic pop culture moments that you had to be there to fully appreciate the excitement that it generated at the time. It had a lasting impact on many people, including young horror fans like me who couldn’t help being drawn into this collaboration of titans from two mediums.
“Thriller” was actually a short film directed by John Landis, who was fresh off the success of An American Werewolf in London, one of my favorite movies of all time, as I related in a previous article here in Tales from the Moonlit Path. With Jackson and Landis working alongside the legendary Rick Baker, who created the innovative special makeup effects for Landis in American Werewolf, and featuring the voice of horror film legend, Vincent Price, what was not to like about this creative effort.
The “video” was shown with the documentary, The Making of Thriller, which was, to me anyway, even more thrilling than “Thriller” because it showed behind-the-scenes footage of Landis and Baker working with Michael and the entire cast. That did it for me. I can only guess how many times I saw the documentary and music video, but it had been a while since I’d last seen it until recently.
It’s interesting now to look back at Thriller from a different age and perspective, and hopefully with some added wisdom, to figure out just what it was about the “Thriller” video that made it so appealing to someone like me who was a horror fan first.
The reason that I found ties in perfectly with the Bloody Valentine’s Day theme in this issue of Tales from the Moonlit Path. We know that there is always an undercurrent of sexuality in horror movies, sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s rather overt, but it’s always there, and this legendary Michael Jackson music video/film is no exception.
Couples have always enjoyed going to horror movies together if for no other reason than to be scared and cuddle close together, just as you hear in the song’s lyrics.
“Thriller” centers around Jackson on a date with a girl, Ola Ray, having taken her to a horror movie. They are sitting together in a crowded theatre, and Jackson not only knows that she is going to bury her head on his shoulders during the scary parts of the movie, but he’s also counting on it. As he shovels popcorn into his mouth, you can see him relishing this predicament, playing the role of the fearless, protective man, unaffected by the horrors on screen. The movie the couple is watching on screen features themselves depicting characters in a vintage horror film.
The “video” opens with an old horror trope as a 1950s convertible driven by Jackson runs out of gas and comes to a stop, much to the dismay of his girlfriend in the passenger seat beside him. Of course, they are on a deserted country road in the middle of nowhere. The sexual tension is evident, and the audience is left to wonder if this is all a set up by Jackson to try to initiate a sexual encounter. As if expecting it, Ray coyly asks, “Well, what are we gonna do now?”
We get the answer quickly when the couple is seen walking along a dark road together. They soon stop and a shy and innocent-looking Jackson sensitively proclaims his affection, offering Ray his ring in confirmation. She accepts it and is overwhelmed with emotion.
And this is where the trouble always starts, isn’t it ladies? The man you choose to be with seems to be everything you want, but then he turns out to be a beast.
After Jackson makes it “official” with the ring, only then does he tell her that he’s “not like other guys.”
When Jackson spoke these words, people in the 1980’s scoffed because of Jackson’s well-known odd and eccentric lifestyle, but a moment later this short film delivered something truly unexpected. The appearance of the full moon emerging from behind a bank of clouds unleashes Jackson’s inner monster, transforming him quite literally before the girl’s – and our – eyes.
The scene is shocking and horrific, and as Jackson sprouts fangs and his eyes glow yellow with rage like those of a predatory animal, it is, as such, a physical manifestation of sexual awakening and symbolic of the loss of innocence. This kind of sexual metaphor is something that horror films have always embodied, especially in those early matinee films like I was a Teenage Werewolf, from which “Thriller” clearly draws heavily.
Jackson shrieks, “Go away!” in a last-ditch effort to protect Ray from his emerging inner demons, but she has nowhere to go and can only scream in horror until his transformation is complete.
Is this a lesson for woman, and men alike, that your partner may not be everything they appear to be on the outside, that we should be suspicious of our partners and what lurks within them, and indeed all of us? Probably not, but it’s a lot of fun to watch someone else be surprised and terrified by the manifestation of such an unknown horror rather than us.
When Ray becomes terrified to the point of fleeing, she is pursued by her boyfriend/beast. During the chase, she trips and falls, and then the monster pounces, looming over her, murder in the beast’s eyes. More sexual metaphors can be drawn from the imagery of sharp teach and claws that are raised, threatening to penetrate her flesh.
That is when the scene suddenly shifts to the movie theatre with an audience that includes Jackson and Ray dressed in more contemporary clothes, even if highly stylistic in design.
We don’t witness the violent act that takes place on screen as the werecat rips apart its prey, but we see the reaction of the main characters as well as some of the patrons. Jackson seems to be enjoying the show at the expense of his frightened girlfriend. Ray is so traumatized by what’s happening on the screen that she gets up and leaves the theater. Jackson reluctantly put down his popcorn and goes after her.
As the camera shifts positions to outside the theatre, panning down the marquee with Vincent Price’s name above the THRILLER title in large red letters, the upbeat tempo of the title track begins to play. By now, the trap has been set, for the audience and for Ray, and everyone is hooked.
What’s going to happen next, you wonder.
His girlfriend is still upset, but Jackson is not very sympathetic to her feelings, teasing her for being afraid and clearly reveling in the power he has over her. As Jackson begins to sing the lyrics of the song, they walk along a dark, deserted city street. It’s just like in the movie they were watching, only they are in an urban setting rather than the country. He is not so much following behind her as stalking her. It’s predatory, although more of a cat-and-mouse kind of interplay. But there is a strong sexual component to it.
The lyrics are a warning to Ray; “something evil’s luring in the dark,” and “no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike.” Jackson even acts out these scenarios, pantomiming Frankenstein’s monster and other ghoulish creatures. Grabbing her by the back of the neck, he sings, “There’s demons closing in on every side.”
Ray smiles and laughs it off because she thinks these are only spooky images he’s using to frighten her, but when they pass by a creepy, fog-covered graveyard, we hear Vincent Price’s voice:
“Darkness falls across the land,
The midnight hour is close at hand,
Creatures crawl in search of blood,
To terrorize y’alls neighborhood…”
From beneath the ground under the tombstones, and out of the cemetery crypts, decaying corpses emerge, slowly but menacingly heading toward the streets and the young couple. Finally, the shambling dead surround Jackson and Ray, and as they inch closer the song suddenly ends. When Ray turns to Jackson, she realizes that he has turned into one of the living dead himself. His face is green and gaunt, and his clothes are in tatters as he glowers back at her before suddenly breaking out into dance. Behind him, an army of the dead moves in perfect sync with him as they begin one of the best choreographed dance sequences ever filmed. Jackson stands out wearing all red, while his dance troupe is attired in dark and dingy burial clothes.
Jackson is clearly the lead zombie, an afterlife alpha that continues to torment his love interest in this short film.
When we see that Jackson has changed back to normal, he starts singing a chorus with lyrics that include, “Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.” There is a double meaning in the kind of thrill he may be suggesting as he gyrates and struts around the soundstage with the other zombies.
Like any good horror movie, the terror ride is not over yet, and Ray flees, naturally taking refuge in an abandoned, old house. The Jackson-ghoul and his entire accompaniment follow her there as she attempts to barricade herself inside. In a scene reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead, the zombies, led by Jackson, descend upon the house and try to gain entry. The creatures start breaking through the walls and floor to get her as she screams helplessly. Finally, Jackson pounds his way through the door like Jack Torrance in The Shining.
Completely trapped now, Ray screams one last time as Jackson reaches down and grabs her neck. With her fate all but sealed, she looks up at Jackson who is his old, charming self once again, smiling down at her inside a room that is clean and neat and brightly lit.
“What’s the problem?” he asks winsomely. When he offers to take her home, she willingly goes with him, snuggling up against him. However, as they head out of the room, Michael pauses and turns to face the camera, secretly revealing to the audience a devilish grin and the yellow, slitted eyes of a monster. The frame freezes and as the camera zooms in on Jackson’s face Vincent Price laughs maniacally. The End. Roll credits.
The video shocked and delighted many and proved a tour de force for Michael Jackson’s career, doubling sales of the already hugely successful Thriller album, making it the bestselling album of all time. It was the seventh and final single on the album, released for public consumption in the US in January 1984, well over a year after the album debuted, featuring pop classics that included “Billy Jean” and “Beat It.”
Aside from all the accolades, when analyzing the film, the biggest takeaway for me is how two distinct halves came together to form something totally unique, and this happened on several levels. You not only have it in the melding of two art forms, music and cinema, but you also have it in the intrinsic connection of horror and sex, which the “Thriller” video so affectively demonstrates. You further have it in the two competing images of Michael Jackson as both a teen heartthrob and as a symbol of sexual prowess and danger. This one might be a dual nature that exists in all of us, and that might be scariest thing of all.
Published 2/14/24