Directed by John Landis
Produced by George Folsey Jr.
Music by Michael Jackson
Released on December 2, 1983
Distributed by Epic Records, in co-
operation with Vestron Music Video

{Starring Michael Jackson, Ola Ray, Vincent Price, & The Living Dead - ALTERNATE}


Often referred to as the greatest music video ever and has also been voted the most influential pop music video of all time,
"Thriller" proved to have a profound effect on popular culture, and was named "a watershed moment for the [music] industry"
for its unprecedented merging of filmmaking and music. Guinness World Records listed it in 2006 as the "most successful music video",
selling over 9 million units. In 2009, the video was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, the first music
video to ever receive this honor, for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.

With choreography by Michael Peters, the music video for 'Thriller' begins in a 1950s setting, a teenaged Michael Jackson and his
female date (Ola Ray) run out of gas in a dark, wooded area. They walk off into the forest, and Michael asks her if she would
like to go steady. She accepts and he gives her a ring. He warns her, however, that he is "different".

My idea was to make this short film with conversation ... in the beginning - I like having a beginning and a middle and an ending, which would follow a story. I'm very much involved in complete making and creating of the piece. It has to be, you know, my soul. Usually, you know, it's an interpretation of the music.

It was a delicate thing to work on because I remember my original approach was, 'How do you make zombies and monsters dance without it being comical?' So I said, 'We have to do just the right kind of movement so it doesn't become something that you laugh at.' But it just has to take it to another level. So I got in a room with [choreographer] Michael Peters, and he and I together kind of imagined how these zombies move by making faces in the mirror. I used to come to rehearsal sometimes with monster makeup on, and I loved doing that. So he and I collaborated and we both choreographed the piece and I thought it should start like that kind of thing and go into this jazzy kind of step, you know. Kind of gruesome things like that, not too much ballet or whatever.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi