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
Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video) Dead" (1968). Dendle wrote that the video captures the feelings of claustrophobia and helplessness essential to zombie films. The "Thriller" video was aired alongside a documentary of the making of the video, "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller," directed by Jerry Kramer. It includes home video footage of a young Jackson dancing and footage of his performances from "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "". After a private premiere on 21 November, "Michael Jackson's Thriller" debuted on MTV and Friday Night Videos on 2 December 1983. After each broadcast of the video, MTV advertised when they would next play it, and recorded audience