Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video) Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video) Michael Jackson's Thriller is a music video for the Michael Jackson song "Thriller". It was directed by John Landis and written by Landis and Jackson. It was released on December 2, 1983, by Columbia Pictures. In the video, Jackson and his girlfriend (played by Ola Ray) are confronted by zombies while walking home from a movie theater. Jackson becomes a zombie and performs a dance routine with a horde of the undead. The video references numerous horror films. Jackson contacted Landis after seeing his film "An American Werewolf in London." The pair conceived a short
Thriller (Michael Jackson album) based on Duala), giving the song an international flavor. "The Girl Is Mine" tells of two friends' fight over a woman, arguing over who loves her more, and concludes with a rap. The album's songs have a tempo ranging from 80 beats per minute on "The Girl is Mine", to 138 on "Beat It". "Thriller" foreshadows the contradictory themes of Jackson's later works. With "Thriller", Jackson began using a motif of paranoia and darker themes including supernatural imagery in the title track. This is evident on the songs "Billie Jean", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Thriller". In "Billie Jean", Jackson