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) to suggestions that Jackson was bowing to a white audience. "The Girl Is Mine" was followed by the hit single "Billie Jean", which made "Thriller" a chart-topper. Success continued with the single "Beat It", which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather. The title track was released as a single and also became a hit internationally. On December 16, 2015, "Thriller" was certified 30× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least 30 million units in the US. After the inclusion of streaming and tracks sales into the RIAA album awards in 2017, "Thriller"