Reel to Real Filming Locations: Michael Jackson

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Michael Jackson - Thriller (1983)

Before Michael Myers terrified me as a child, Michael Jackson's video opus had me sleeping with the lights on and checking under the bed.
Thriller would change MTV forever. Well, until reality television came along. The fusion of music and filmmaking created a spectacular thirteen minute video from his transformation into a werewolf, through his serenading a former Playboy centerfold down the foggy road to the elaborately choreographed zombie dance. It's no wonder Thriller has been hailed the greatest music video of all time.

Thriller was filmed in Los Angeles, CA

Location: Running Out Of Gas

Address: Commonwealth Canyon Drive, Los Angeles, CA

This area is right near the entrance to Griffith Park and the Roosevelt Golf Course. You can park on Commonwealth Canyon Drive but need to walk about a quarter mile where the road curves...

Location: The Theater Exterior
Address: 630 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA

The Palace Theater

Location: The Theater Interior

Address: 1023 Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, CA

The Rialto Theater

The exterior and lobby was also used in Scream 2 (1997)

Location: The Zombie Dance
Address: Union Pacific Avenue & Calzona Street, Los Angeles, CA

This shot was filmed across from the red brick building at Centennial Mills Flour Mill, which was demolished a while ago...

Location: The House
Address: 1345 Caroll Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

The Sanders House resides on a street of beautiful Victorian-style houses built in the late 1880s. Just a few doors down is the house from Charmed (1998-2006)...

2003