R.I.P. Michael Jackson

For those of you who live under a rock, Michael Jackson died of a heart attack yesterday. Even though I wouldn't consider myself a fan of his music per say, I have to recognize how huge of a blow this is to not only to the music industry but pop culture itself. There probably isn't anyone on this planet who doesn't know who Michael Jackson is. And despite the fact that his life has been a freak show / train wreck for about ten years, it's really strange to think that he's gone.

Anyways, many of you may be asking: why are you talking about this on a movie blog? Well, as far as I'm concerned, Jackson reshaped the music video in the 1980's with his video for Thriller. It was this video that set the bar for what a music video could be and what all could be achieved in it. The man basically put MTV on the map before it turned into an abyss of terrible reality television. Jackson's music videos were always above what one expected from a music video. Jackson set out to make short films and worked with huge directors such as John Landis and Martin Scorsese (see their video for "Bad" here). 

Last night, his death caused MTV to shut down regular programming and play Jackson's videos all night long. Yes, that's right: music videos were finally played on MTV again. It's a shame that something like this has to happen for the channel to do what it's meant to do to begin with. The long version of Thriller was played a few times and, after re-watching it, I really have to admire the hell out of it.

Think about how cool this video is. First off, it's directed by John Landis fresh off the success of his horror film An American Werewolf in London (and well before his tragic run on Twilight Zone: The Movie). It features a classic, gothic horror feel that's absent from most horror movies today. It has special effects from Rick Baker (who won an Oscar for his work on An American Werewolf in London). It has both werewolves and zombies. It features the voice of Vincent freakin' Price. It contains lots of Landis inside jokes such as the line "See you next Wednesday" (it was the name of the porn that was screened in An American Werewolf in London) and posters in the background for films such as Schlock. Lastly, it has a pretty classic twist ending that's kind of creepy.

Yeah, there's a horror fan boy in me that wants to go "zombies don't dance" and I still am confused on how Jackson seems to flip back and forth between his normal self and his zombie form. Also, I have to laugh at the fact that Jackson really seems to be into the horror movie at the beginning and the girl isn't. I don't know why but this image is just really funny to me because his voice is so high. But really-- who cares. This video is awesome and it's better than anything that MTV produces today. 

Watch the long version of the video below in HD and see just how awesome Jackson was back in his hey-day.