#581. RIP Mikaeel [ Ghosts 1996 ]

Directed by Stan Winston
Written by Michael Jackson,Stephen King
Starring Michael Jackson
Music by Michael Jackson

Ghosts is a short film starring Michael Jackson which could also be classified as a long-form music video. It was filmed and first screened in 1996 and released along with select prints of the film Stephen King's THINNER. It was released a year later internationally on VHS.The movie was released at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996 and released on VHS video in 1997. Ghosts has much in common with its most direct predecessor, Thriller. Originally released in 1983, "Thriller" also featured Jackson as the main protagonist/antagonist, interacting and choreographed with "undead" dancers. Likewise, both films act as homages to monster films past.Ghosts also can be viewed as a not-so-thinly veiled self-commentary by Jackson on his personal circumstances in the years preceding its production. Direct parallels can be drawn between various elements in the film and Jackson's own life: The Maestro - a reclusive, solitary figure, living removed from the townspeople, and interacting primarily with their children - is attacked by evil-seeming white and black figures with power in a manner similar to how Jackson perceived his own situation.

Ghosts is a musical movie, 38 mins long, with Michael Jackson playing both the main characters. The first of those characters is a Maestro who lives alone in a haunted looking castle on a hill. Its known he has been entertaining the local town children with scary magic tricks which they have found to be pure fun.

Michael Jackson also plays the role of the second main character, the Town Mayor, a white ageing, overweight man. The make up effects are amazing its not easy to tell this isn't a real human actor let alone guess this role is being played by Michael Jackson. The Mayor leads some of the towns folk up to the castle along with some of the kids on a mission to run the Maestro out of town. They believe he is not just entertaining the children but scaring them. They, or at least the Town Mayor perceive the Maestro as a "Freak" and "Weirdo". The children say the Maestro is harmless and want him to be left alone.

When the Mayor backed up by the towns people finds the Maestro and tells him "Are you going to leave, or am I going to have to make you?" The Maestro is unfazed by this and questions "You're trying to scare me, aren't you?...I guess I have no choice, I have to try and scare you." This is when the movies special effects really begin. As you can see from the movie screenshots Michael totally distorts his face and eventually pulls his whole face off just leaving his skull.

The Maestro then reveals he is not alone in the castle and many of his ghostly friends start appearing from balls of light thrown by the Maestro. Michael performs a dance to the song "2 Bad". This is also followed by some more routines, one with Michael's skeleton dancing and even moonwalking. The Maestro also enters into the body of the Mayor and makes the Mayor dance to the music. The Mayor ends up disappearing through a window and the towns people appear to accept the Maestro.

Overal the movie really does make the most of some of the latest special effects of the time. The dance routines, although somewhat reminnicent of Thriller, with Michael leading ghosts from past era instead of zombies are amazing and the music is Michael Jackson at his best, maybe not as regards hit records, but ideal for the movie. This ia must see movie for any fan of Michael Jackson.Songs featured in the film were "2 Bad" which was from Michael Jackson's HIStory album and Ghosts and Is It Scary which were both taken from Blood On The Dance Floor, which was a History in the Mix album with some new tacks.



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