There’s no place in this town for weirdoes

October 27, 2010 12:48 PM

Though the sets and music are pure golden-age horror, the villagers are coded as ’50s sitcom types, bland exemplars of suburban uptightitude. Their ranks include a young Mos Def, though he’s seldom called upon to do anything other than act scared of supernatural goings-on in a manner that would cause even Stepin Fetchit’s ghost to say “For God’s sake, man, show some dignity.”

Just in time for Halloween, the AV Club series My Year of Flops unearths the Stephen King-written, Stan Winston-directed Michael Jackson's Ghosts (2, 3, 4).
posted by Horace Rumpole (15 comments total)

Wow, Micheal Jackson is able to be strange from BEYOND THE GRAVE.
posted by The Whelk at 12:56 PM on October 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I have never heard of this before.
posted by empath at 12:56 PM on October 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I saw this movie on television, but I barely remember it & haven't thought about it in at least 15 years...weird
posted by Dmenet at 12:57 PM on October 27, 2010

In a jarring, revealing bit of creative schizophrenia, Jackson in fat-white-man drag dresses down Jackson’s mysterious gentleman of leisure.

This is so ...so much weirder then I was expecting and that's saying something.
posted by The Whelk at 12:57 PM on October 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow - the video was released onto YouTube by MJJ Productions, Inc., Michael's own production company, and posted to YouTube mere months after the death of Michael? Weird.

Other minutae: if he's talking about the Video Compact Discs I'm thinking about, they're not "playable in absolutely no players," they were very popular in Asia, and I think most computer CD-drives could access the data, allowing playback with a myriad of video programs. And VCDs were big in the bootlegging circles before DVDs were the hot thing to have (and copy) in Asia. Just sayin'.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:02 PM on October 27, 2010

I read several comments on youtube talking about how sexy Michael Jackson is in this video.

Did the definition of sexy change?
posted by flarbuse at 1:02 PM on October 27, 2010

(Thought continued) - and because VCDs were widely bootlegged, there's a good chance he simply has what might have been a widely available bootleg. Though, lo and behold, VCDs of this are sold on Amazon to this day. And there are even alternative rips on YouTube, looking to be a bit higher quality (but there is only so much quality you can get out of VCDs - the next step up is SVCD).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:05 PM on October 27, 2010

Oh hey, this totally exists
posted by The Whelk at 1:08 PM on October 27, 2010

I will now listen to Thriller for the remainder of the day.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:24 PM on October 27, 2010

Have you even listened to Thriller... ON HEADPHONES?

God DAMN, Quincy Jones is a genius.
posted by entropicamericana at 1:27 PM on October 27, 2010

Have you even listened to Thriller... ON HEADPHONES?

God DAMN, Quincy Jones is a genius.

Yes, I have. And yes, he is.
posted by The World Famous at 1:59 PM on October 27, 2010

Also, in light of the fact that this apparently opened in front of Thinner sometimes, I'm delighted to bring you: Stephen King and Michael Jackson's Thrinner.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:36 PM on October 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I can't believe I just watched the whole thing. My devotion to Mos Def is strong.
posted by elsietheeel at 5:54 PM on October 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

"My Year of Flops" is a great column. Those of you who haven't encountered it previously could probably kill a few days at work reading through the archives, and have a pretty good time. There's also a book version that's just been released.
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:26 PM on October 27, 2010

Mr. F probably has some stories about Ghosts, since the FX work was done by his former/ my current employer.

Old coworker put up some righteous pics from back in that day on Facebook a few months back, though-- all our current VFX supes look about 18 tops, and MJ's just standing there with them in the middle of the patio with that deer-in-headlights half-smile. Crazy.

I regret never getting to meet Stan. Gone too soon.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:50 PM on October 27, 2010