Michael Jackson's Ghosts

Michael Jackson's Ghosts

Poster
Directed by Stan Winston
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on Concept 
by Michael Jackson
and Stephen King
Starring Michael Jackson
Music by
Cinematography Russell Carpenter
Edited by Marcus Manton
Production
company
Distributed by SMV Enterprises
Release dates
  • May 8, 1997 (1997-05-08) (Cannes)
Running time
 39 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English

Michael Jackson's Ghosts is a 1997 American short horror film starring Michael Jackson, co-written by Jackson, Mick Garris, and horror novelist Stephen King, and directed by film director and special effects guru Stan Winston which could also be classified as a long-form music video. It was filmed and first screened in 1997. It was released as promo a year later internationally on LaserDisc, VHS and Video CD. Jackson plays a total of five roles in the film.

The film tells the story of a scary Maestro with supernatural powers, who is being forced out of a small town by its mayor all the way to New York, pictured as a comically arrogant, plump man who bears more than a passing resemblance to Thomas Sneddon (the main prosecutor in Jackson's infamous child sexual abuse case from four years earlier). The film includes a series of dance routines performed by Jackson and his "family" of ghouls. Every song present was taken from Jackson's albums HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix.

Plot

The Maestro lives alone in a creepy-looking mansion on top of a hill, overlooking the town of "Normal Valley", who occasionally entertains the local children with scary magic tricks. One of the children tells his mother, who alerts the Mayor. He in turn organizes the townspeople to go to the Maestro's mansion and force him out of town. When they arrive at the mansion, it is guarded by a large gate and by the haunting look of the mansion, have second thoughts about entering. The children assure the parents that the Maestro has done nothing wrong, and ask that they leave him alone. But the mayor says that he's weird and cannot be in their town.

The front gate opens, frightening the townspeople, who make their way to the front door, which also opens by itself. They make their way into the house, and once they are all inside, the front door slams shut and locks itself. Two more large doors swing open revealing a large, darkened dance hall. Hesitantly, the townspeople make their way to the dance hall, where they are greeted by Maestro himself. The Mayor angrily confronts him, calling him "strange", "weird", and a "freak", and telling him that he's not welcome in their town. Maestro defends himself, and in response the Mayor threatens him to leave. Maestro replies by scaring the townspeople. The frightened townspeople run for the doors, which Maestro shuts with his magical powers and saying they are his guests.

Maestro then reminds the townspeople that he's not alone, and introduces his "family" of ghouls who, along with Maestro, perform extended dance routines which alternately impresses and scares the townspeople.

After Maestro's performance ends, he asks whether they still want him to go. While the townspeople respond "no", the mayor says "Yes...yes!". Maestro quietly agrees. He falls, and smashes his hands and face into the floor. His face and body violently start to crumble into dust on the floor, which is then blown away by the wind. The townspeople are saddened by this, and somewhat sorry to see him go. The mayor however thinks he has come out victorious and heads for the doors . When he opens them, he finds a monstrous-looking Maestro-demon head which terrifies him, and he runs away scared. The townspeople then turn back to the now open front doors to see the Maestro standing there, laughing. He asks if they all had a good time, and the townspeople realize they did. They figure he isn't so bad after all and make peace with him.

During the credits, backstage footage of Jackson's make-up sessions and shots are revealed.

Songs used in the film

"Ghosts" and "Is It Scary" were not featured in the first version of the film, because they were not completed in time. In the original version, the audio from these dance segments was a sampled beat from "2 Bad". An unfinished version of "Ghosts" was used in the credits for the original version of the film, featuring an alternate bridge, different bass and sound effects, and an alternate ending.

Release and reception

The film was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.[2] In 2002, the Guinness Book of World Records honored Ghosts as the longest music video in history.

The original version was also given multiple screenings at Hoyts Cinema in Sydney (together with a 75mm print of the HIStory teaser) the evening before the HIStory tour commenced its Australian leg (and the evening before Jackson's wedding to Debbie Rowe), and that print had the red background version of the SMPTE Universal Leader at the beginning.

Deluxe Collector Box Set

"On the Line"
Single by Michael Jackson
B-side "Ghosts" (Mousse T's Radio Rock Singalong Remix)
"Is It Scary" (DJ Greek's Scary Mix)
Released January 11, 1997
Format CD maxi single
Recorded January 1996
Genre R&B, pop, soul
Length 4:39 (short version)
4:53 (long version)
Label Epic Records, Sony Music
Writer(s) Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
Michael Jackson
Producer(s) Babyface
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"They Don't Care About Us"
(1996)		 "On the Line"
(1997)		 "Blood on the Dance Floor"
(1997)

In January 1997, while Jackson's remix album Blood on the Dance Floor was being promoted, a Deluxe Collector Box Set of Ghosts was released in the UK (however, it was not released in the US). The box set included Jackson's Ghosts mini-movie on home video and his Blood on the Dance Floor album on CD, as well as a CD maxi single named the Limited Edition Minimax CD. "On the Line" was the first track on this single.[3] Since "On the Line" was the leading track of this single, some fans simply call the Limited Edition Minimax CD "On the Line".

"On the Line"

The song "On the Line" was co-written and produced by Babyface. Michael Jackson performs the track and is also credited in its writing (on the writing credits of The Ultimate Collection). It was originally recorded by Jackson for the Spike Lee movie Get on the Bus (1996), but it was not featured on the soundtrack.[3][4]

The full-length version of the song was released on November 16, 2004 as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection.[3][5]

Personnel

Track listing

Limited Edition Minimax CD (EPC 665268 2)[8]

  1. "On the Line" – 4:37
  2. "Ghosts" (Mousse T's Radio Rock Singalong Remix) – 4:25
  3. "Is It Scary" (DJ Greek's Scary Mix) – 7:12

References

  1. ↑ "MICHAEL JACKSON'S GHOSTS (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. May 14, 1997. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Ghosts". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Halstead, Craig (2007). Michael Jackson: For the Record. Authors OnLine. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-0-7552-0267-6.
  4. ↑ "Amazon.com: Get On The Bus: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  5. ↑ "Song info on Amazon.com". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  6. 1 2 "Michael Jackson - Limited Edition Minimax CD (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  7. 1 2 "Get on the Bus (1996) - Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  8. ↑ "australian-charts.com - Michael Jackson - On The Line". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2010-08-01.

External links

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