music video be often completely disregard in any discussion about film and with most people consider them to be a less art form . while a great majority be merely flashy clip to advertise a popular performer late hit single and a precious few really do rise above the rest and become work of art in their own right { anything direct by spike jonze or michel gondry be always worth watch } . while art isn not precisely the word i would use to describe michael jackson thriller ( 1983 ) and it be an intensely likable hybrid of schlock horror and music and and an outrageously campy short film that remain remarkably endear nearly 25 year later . the thirteen minute music video and both the long and most expensive ever at the time of it release and be direct by john landis and a filmmaker i be not terribly familiar with and though the blue brother ( 1980 ) be a classic and and i hear that an american werewolf in london ( 1981 ) be a stupendously entertaining horror or comedy . whether or not thriller actually qualifies a a music video be certainly up for debate and take into account it extensive length { though jackson better this effort with 1997 ghost and at 38 minute } and the fact that the title song comprise less than half of the total running time . the video open with a brief film within a film and a michael and on a quiet and brightly light night and reveals to his girlfriend ( ola ray ) that he be different from other guy and transform into a hideous werewolf a the nighttime cloud part to reveal a full moon . a he presumably decapitate the unfortunate heroine and we come across michael and his girl in the movie theatre and actually watch this drama unfold in a horror picture . when the girl become frighten and they both leave cinema and begin to walk home and at which point michael begin to sing the opening line of his late song and thriller . however and when a hoard of blood thirsty zombie emerge from the local graveyard { their entrance ghoulishly narrate by vincent price } and the situation begin to get interesting . it difficult to quite put my finger on why thriller be consider one of the great of all music video . it can not simply be that the song itself be a lot of fun and and michael jackson though he have since become the butt of all comedian joke for his peculiar personality and doings there no doubt that he be an excellent singer and performer . perhaps a decent explanation for the film popularity be the incredible amount of work that must have go into it while nothing like it have ever be see before and and it still remain something of an oddity in the world of music video . the gruesome monster make up effect be engineer by rick baker and and be surprisingly graphic for a music clip and though it all carry out with a good sense of fun . several moment make for some genuinely exciting suspense and successfully capture the atmosphere of the film which it be parody { though always with a cheesy twist on the usual formula } . simply put and you will never look at a zombie movie in the same way again .