Thriller (1983): The Greatest Music Video of all time turns 40

What is the greatest music video of all time? There have been many contenders for that title over the years. Certainly Madonna, with her massive catalog of hits, particularly Express Yourself & Vogue, was considered an innovative artist of the medium. Duran Duran were early pioneers of the format with Hungry Like the Wolf & Rio. George Michael’s visually dazzling Freedom 90, directed by David Fincher, has come close to grabbing the crown. But most music historians still consider Michael Jackson’s ode to classic Hollywood Horror, Thriller, to hold the number one spot. 

Released in 1982, Thriller was the title track of Jackson’s record-breaking and gonzo-selling LP. Anybody who grew up in the ’80s either owned a copy or heard the many hit singles, seven in total, from the Thriller album. After its November release, which stayed at the top of the charts for over a year, Jackson became Gen X’s version of Elvis Presley. And while Jackson’s songcraft on the album was exceptional, he also became a cultural force in the world of music videos. And the three videos spawned from the album, Billie Jean, Beat It, and Thriller, are all influential and showed Jackson’s confident command of this new medium.

And Jackson’s ambitions were high for the Thriller video, the seventh and final single from the album, a full 13 months after its 1982 debut. He convinced comedy/horror filmmaker John Landis, hot off The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, to helm the project. But the director was reluctant to dabble in this new medium and not content to shoot a standard video. Landis convinced Jackson to broaden the scope and treat it like a short film. They brought makeup master Rick Baker to design the various creature designs, the now iconic dancing was co-choreographed by Michael Peters and legendary composer Elmer Bernstein did the non-Jackson “scary music” score. And most crucially, they shot on actual film stock, giving the video a cinematic tone.

The results are all up there on the screen. The nearly 14-minute video, or (ahem) short film, goes through various classic monster scenarios, starring a wonderfully charismatic Jackson and model-actress Ola Ray as his frustrated and frightened girlfriend. It’s a beautifully done piece, full of director Landis’s brand of humor and thrills, complete with the great Vincent Price’s closing monologue. I remember watching the highly anticipated debut on MTV and being scared witless by the opening werewolf transformation, a sequence that recalls Landis’s An American Werewolf in London.

The Thriller video was the capstone to one of the best-selling albums of all time, with 70 million copies and counting. MTV, which was still clinging to its white rock mantra, couldn’t ignore the genius and showmanship of Jackson’s videos. The cable channel eventually embraced the artist, opening the door for black musicians, like Prince and Whitney Houston, into the new medium. And while I do reluctantly agree that Thriller is the “greatest video” of all time, I still find Jackson’s Billie Jean a more entertaining watch and a much superior song.

Michael Jackson would continue to make many innovative music videos, eventually collaborating with acclaimed directors Martin Scorsese on Bad and John Singleton for Remember the Time. He would re-team with Landis with Black & White and later duet with his sister Janet on Scream. Sadly, the child abuse allegations in the 1990s would forever be a raincloud over his legacy, even after his tragic death in 2009. There’s an honest debate over separating the artist vs. the man, but that’s for another column. Still, you can’t deny Michael Jackson’s influence on the music video format.

Check out the video below. Will you be adding Thriller to your Halloween playlist? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.