She won the MTV award for video of the year. 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). And then there's the wild action sequence in a futuristic Paris where she poisons her unfaithful boyfriend. [8] Within months, the documentary sold a million copies, making it the bestselling video release at that point. An argument could be made for "Baby One More Time" to be on the list for the school girl uniform and high school setting, but "Toxic" deserves the title. Alternate Versions But what truly stands out about the video is Cher's iconic sheer body suit and leather jacket. 08/07/2009 17:32. The Rig on Prime Video release date, cast, plot, trailer, interview MASTERPIECE | British Mystery Series to Watch Right Now The video features a ghost, tombstones rising from the ground, zombie gorillas, and pop culture references including ones to "Resident Evil" and "Braindead.". | "I recall everybody at college talking about it; about how it was like a mini-movie and how much it had cost. 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 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. That's a pretty serious statement, and one that makes the silly horror movie-inspired fun to follow seem like it's going to be a lot darker and menacing than it is. The boy returns in ghost form but his mom can't see him, and both the man and woman fade from the video. Amazon Studios. "It was really groundbreaking to have such a long video, and it helped to shape the future of music videos, which previously had been more performance-based," she says. [8] In a statement published in Awake!, a magazine published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Jackson said: "I just intended to do a good, fun short film, not to purposely bring to the screen something to scare people or to do anything bad. "It's simple all you've got to do is dance, sing, and make it scary," DiLeo says he told Jackson at the time. "I had some intimate moments with him in his trailer," Ray said. Epic Records head of promotions Frank DiLeo suggested a third music video, for the album's title track, which wasn't even slated to be a single. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "THRILLER - The Complete Series A 16-disc Box Set From Network", "BFI Screenonline: Thriller (1973-76) Credits", "Five things to watch this weekend 11-13 October", "See No Evil (1971) - Richard Fleischer | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie", "Someone at the Top of the Stairs (1973) - John Sichel | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie", "BFI Screenonline: Clemens, Brian (1931-) Biography", "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are (1974) - | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie", "Screamer (1974) - Shaun O'Riordan | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie", "The Double Kill (1975) - | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie", "I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill (1974) - | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie", " A British TV Review: THRILLER "Lady Killer" (1973)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thriller_(British_TV_series)&oldid=1133430606, 1970s British anthology television series, Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV), Television shows shot at ATV Elstree Studios, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from December 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles with minor POV problems from March 2022, Articles with trivia sections from February 2022, Articles needing additional references from February 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 19:32. Quotes 'we Need To Talk About Kevin' (2011) Based on Lionel Shriver's novel of the same title, this Golden Globe-nominated film stars Tilda Swinton as Eva, the mother of a disturbed teenager (Ezra Miller) who has committed mass murder at his school. As the song progresses, multiple Morissettes sing in the car and act as her passengers until the car runs out of gas and she has to walk. We didn't get a Channel 4 signal until late 84 so missed out entirely! Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Every shot in the "Bye Bye Bye" video is memorable. Landis had helmed several big movies, including the horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London, whichJackson so enjoyed (per Vanity Fair) that he wanted the director to tell another werewolf story and helm his "Thriller" video. I recall it was late night purely because of the content. The simple black-and-white video features Beyonc in a leotard flanked on either side by a dancer in a similar outfit. ", $1.8m The amount Texan gold trader Milton Verrett paid for Jackson's red jacket from the video at auction in June 2011, 26ins The size of Jackson's waist at the time of filming, according to Landis's wife Deborah, who designed the red jacket, $1m Estimated sum in unpaid royalties for which Landis sued Jackson in 2009, 13,597 The number of people who performed the Thriller zombie dance together at an event organised by the Instituto de la Juventud del Gobierno del Distrito Federal at the Monumento a la Revolucin, Mexico City, on in August 2009, 156.4m The number of YouTube views of the official posting of the Thriller video, 9.5m Total home video and DVD sales of The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, The John Landis-directed mini-movie first shown publicly 30 years ago this week influenced a generation of directors including Spike Jonze, turned music promos into an industry, and established MTV as a cultural force, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Michael Jackson's impact on art explored in London show, John Landis on the making of Michael Jacksons Thriller: I was adamant he couldnt look too hideous, Quincy Jones sues Michael Jackson's estate, Who's bad? [8] Thriller is popular on YouTube, which hosts user-submitted videos of reenactments of the dance. 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. [10] Makeup artist Rick Baker decided to turn Jackson into a werecat "because I just didn't want to do another werewolf". After a screaming, profanity-laden phone call with Jackson and director John Landis, CBS Records head Walter Yetnikoff offered up $100,000, leaving the creative team to find the rest of the money elsewhere. Cher's video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" is relatively simple: she performs a concert on the battleship USS Missouri with a ton of US Navy members present. 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. The 13-minute film that resulted changed the music video for ever, becoming less a promo clip than a cultural phenomenon. He and Peters imagined how the zombies would move by making faces in the mirror, incorporating "jazzy" moves, "not too much ballet or whatever". [8] After originally being screened late at night in the U.S. under the ABC Wide World of Entertainment billing from 1973, some episodes were retitled for U.S. syndication in 1978, and all had additional opening sequences shot with new titles and credits but without the original cast and, for this reason, often only featuring menacing figures seen from the neck down. [10] He wanted to make a theatrical short rather than a standard music video, and hoped to use Jackson's celebrity to return theatrical shorts to popularity. [5] The opening scene parodies 1950s B-movies, with Jackson and Ray dressed as 1950s teenagers. [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. Thriller was an event even when it was being shot in October 1983. Disney star Alyson Stoner broke out in the video as the lead child dancer. MC Hammer's video for "U Can't Touch This" is extremely simple. She has visions of her dead lover in the mansion and remembers moments when they were together. At one point, the boy tries to cut his antlers off to be accepted, but she stops him. The "Love Shack" video was filmed at the home of ceramic artists Philip Maberry and Scott Walker and shows people grooving and having a fun party in this place in the middle of some woods. And yet, it was something of an afterthought: the seventh single from a 10-track album that didn't have the most auspicious of starts when it was released a full year before the Thriller video (long enough for Jackson's nose to look different in the film than it does on the LP cover). | During the elaborate production of this music video. [11] One episode, "Screamer", concerns a rape victim who murders her attacker, only to then see the man stalking her everywhere. as well as other partner offers and accept our, 300 people dressed as Bush in the red dress, the popular "Michael Jackson eating popcorn" GIF. They are all dressed in lingerie in a cabaret setting resembling the real Moulin Rouge. Jackson's sixth album, Thriller, was released in November 1982 and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200, backed by successful videos for the singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It". It's incredibly simple, with David Bowie just standing in front of a white background for most of it, but with his orange hair, powder blue suit, and blue eye shadow, the visuals are vibrant and mesmerizing. Lesley Sharp stars as a detective who faces impossible choices in a murky world where loyalties are tested and lines are blurred. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is considered one of the greatest songs of all time, and the video is a testament to the song as a teen rock anthem. See production, box office & company info, The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018), At the Movies: Christine/Silkwood/Sudden Impact/Thriller, Palace Theater, 630 S Broadway, Los Angeles, California, USA. Most clips just show him and a few others doing his signature moves like the running man and hammer dance. He's taking things to a whole new place. The zoomed in shots of her face and tears are reminiscent of Sinead O'Conner's "Nothing Compares 2 U" video, which is on this list. Inspired by the reaction to the Beatles performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Hey Ya!" At the time, music videos cost around one hundred thousand dollars to produce. The suit alleged that Landis didn't receive his promised 50-percent cut of the profits and that Jackson and company acted with "fraudulent, malicious, and oppressive conduct" in withholding what The Hollywood Reporter said amounted to about $2.3 million. It's easy to overlook this fact, but M. Night . Landis talked Jackson out of getting a new actress by reminding him that Ray was a Playmate in Playboy, not in "Thriller." [39] In 2010, Jackson's estate objected to the Jackson zombie in the game. She ran around with her friends bothering patrons and employees, trying on a bunch of clothes, and making a giant mess. "In adolescence, youngsters begin to grow hair in unexpected places and parts of their anatomy swell and grow," Landis wrote in Monsters in Movies. Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 1983 music video for the song "Thriller" by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on December 2, 1983. He worked very hard. I would never do anything like that again." The video includes clips from "Purple Rain," too. 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. In May 2009, Ray sued Jackson, along with his production company, for breach of contract. They run naked on a beach, they wear ridiculous outfits, and they rock out in front of crowds of people. "Above all, it's just this amazing documentation of Michael Jackson at his most electric," he says. The film had a brief theatrical release in Los Angeles at the AVCO Theater - it played for three weeks along with Disney's. The short film premiered on NBC's music video block Friday Night Videos. [3], The series was created by Brian Clemens, who also scripted the majority of the episodes and story-lined every installment. 2023 Hearst UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 30 Panton Street, Leicester Square, London, SW1Y 4AJ. Goofs It starts with the boy band as puppets being controlled by a giant woman. The first collaboration between Alicia Silverstone and Aerosmith featured Silverstone as a girl who catches her boyfriend cheating. Then the scenes begin to shift between Houston in brightly colored dresses and makeup in various different scenes. The floors appears to move as the walls stand still, furniture seems to glide, and the titled camera makes viewers feel a bit sideways. Filmeditor Marshall Harvey had previously been hired by John Landis to make the behind the scenes footage to his movies An American Werewolf in London and Blues Brothers. Throw Katy Perry and her dancers in clothing covered in sweets, dress Snoop Dogg in a cupcake suit, make the setting a board game called Candyfornia, and you've got yourself the basis of the "California Gurls" video. This did not stop him being threatened with expulsion from his church because of the film's subject matter. To be eligible for the Oscars, it needed a week-long theatrical release, so Landis arranged for it to open, bizarrely, for Disney's Fantasia at a single cinema in LA. Later, she's on the same ball nude, except for the boots. 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). 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. The video features the four guys of OK Go doing a choreographed dance on treadmills all filmed in one shot. I remember watching it on C4 late at night. A YouTube video of more than 1,500 prisoners performing the dance attracted 14 million views by 2010. Also, the group performs in water and in liquefied forms in front of a waterfall. "Thriller" never really stopped being popular. He reaches out to her but can't pull her back up and she falls. Why did you need to stay up late if you were 'tape'ing it? "Even him bantering with the girl after they come out of the movie; you're seeing him at this incredible age and at this moment in his life. In January 2009, nearly three decades after production on the video wrapped, Landis sued Jackson and his production company for having failed to fork over what was due over the years. [8], The video debuted on MTV alongside Making Michael Jackson's Thriller on December 2, 1983. We can only really go by the experience of our own DCs, though. At one point, she climbs up the building to a room where Paul McCoy and the rest of the band are playing music. "Thriller was important because it was the first time anything this ambitious had ever been attempted," a spokesperson for VH1 said yesterday. 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.". In 2009, the Library of Congress added "Thriller" to the National Film Registry, naming it part of its collection of films that should be "preserved as cultural, artistic, and/or historical treasures for generations to come," according toLA Weekly. [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. "I won't say that I have seen him in his birthday suit but close enough.". I'm sure VCRs had timers even then. Some music videos are more memorable than others. [12] Nina Blackwood, a former MTV executive, said music videos improved after Thriller, with more storylines and more intricate choreography. Strictly bosses 'line up Sophie Morgan as show's first ever wheelchair The pair conceived a short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. "We don't believe they were complete, and they were never timely," Ray's attorney, Jason Feldman, told the New York Daily News, which reported that the most substantial chunk of money the actress received came in 1998 15 years after "Thriller" was shot. TV-MA | 240 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller 7.4 Rate A young couple move into an apartment only to find the body of a young woman that had been missing for 2 years but never registered as missing which leads to a deeper investigation into what actually happened. Eventually, she stands on the edge of an overpass preparing to jump when her ex shows up with a bunch of cops. Choreographer and singer Paula Abdul danced alongside a cartoon cat named MC Skat Cat in the video for "Opposites Attract." 1983 - Channel 4 premiere of Michael Jackson's Thriller video - YouTube 0:00 / 0:30 1983 - Channel 4 premiere of Michael Jackson's Thriller video Blocks Videos 11.2K subscribers 65 7.4K. Her father, a hunter, disapproves of their romance and tries to shoot antler boy with an arrow but he's hit by a car. All Rights Reserved. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The clips promoting "Thriller" helped turn MTV into a vital cultural force, solidified Jackson's stature as the "King of Pop," and significantly raised both the quality and expectations of music videos. It was also the first big break for drag queen RuPaul. The critic Kobena Mercer found similarities to the werewolf in The Company of Wolves (1984). "I absolutely didn't expect that.". The song was originally going to be called "Starlight". Before any of the "Thriller" fun monster transformations, choreographed zombie dances, creepy yellow eyes the video begins with a brief bit of text on screen. From his Pope outfit to the reenactment of Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting, Lamar doesn't shy away from religious visuals. Cannot remember the excate time but dout it was 1 am as we would of not been allowed to stay up. It was shown as a 'Tube' exclusive at midnight (ish) on Channel four. Instead, he thought, it would be shot like a real movie, on classy 35-millimeter film stock. [10] MTV paid $250,000 for the exclusive rights to show the documentary; Showtime paid $300,000 for pay-cable rights. It even stops briefly for a countdown. It ends with the groom as the actual ringmaster. Dinsdale Landen is the only actor who plays the same named role that of private investigator Matthew Earp in two episodes, "An Echo of Theresa" and "The Next Scream You Hear", although Reg Lye plays an unnamed 'Caretaker' in both "Spell of Evil" and "Good Salary - Prospects - Free Coffin" who could conceivably be the same character. More than 300 people dressed as Bush in the red dress recreated her video in a Brighton park in 2013. This ground-breaking video is the toast of MTV and will forever be remembered for what is the greatest music video of all time!! [32], In 2017, the video made its debut in a newly restored 3D version at the 74th annual Venice Film Festival, accompanied by the Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller documentary, also newly remastered. The rules have been rewritten, unleashing a new surge of creativity. 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. 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. Contents 1 Background 2 Releases 2.1 Hosted by Elvira 2.2 Non-Elvira releases 3 References 4 External links Background [ edit] On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. This steamy drama, which is adapted from a book series by Diana Gabaldon of the same name, follows former World War II nurse Claire Randall as she unexpectedly travels back in time to . Strictly Come Dancing have reportedly lined up Loose Women star Sophie Morgan to be the show's first ever wheelchair-using contestant. ", Only later did Landis realize that Ray was a former Playboy Playmate, which threatened her involvement in the video because Jackson thought it might come across as improper for him to be sharing the screen with a nude model. I was yet another taper of the original Channel 4 broadcast. And yet despite all these fancy awards, "Thriller" didn't win the one prize that seemed like a lock. "It had some magic that made it shine. But for director John Landis, "Thriller" was about something more: sex, primarily. | Other videos that featured highly in yesterday's poll included Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody at No. "When I made videos, whether it was with the Beastie Boys or Bjrk, we weren't chasing anything," he says. It's full of genius symbolism and won Lamar a Grammy for best video. It was in all the papers but it was quite funny how Radio 1 avoided the subject. All eight episodes of Prime Video's new show The Consultant made their debut last week, allowing folks to fly through the entirety of the workplace saga like the levels of an .