In honor of the upcoming Ultraman movie, Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie, several monsters from the Ultraman franchise appeared on a Japanese variety show to "audition" for parts in the movie. They showed off their most menacing dance skills for the assembled Ultramen, an impressive feat given those unwieldy-looking rubber suits.

Ultra Monsters dance to ‘Thriller' [Pink Tentacle]

It's no secret that Jackson always loved fantasy, and he turned to one of the masters of scifi/horror, John Landis, to direct his music video masterpiece Thriller. When the video hit MTV in the mid 1980s, audiences were shocked by how far Jackson went in this horror-parody. The special effects were genuinely scary, and Jackson wasn't afraid to make himself look like a real monster. Though the zombie werewolf boogie seemed like a weird idea at the time, it has become a staple of pop culture and a perennial favorite with the YouTube flash mob generation. Here you can see one of the YouTube memes the song spawned - a group of prisoners reenacted the dance sequence and made internet history.

Later, Jackson made a science fiction movie called Captain EO which aired exclusively at Disneyland. This allowed him to bring together his obsession with Disney-related fantasies and outer space. In fact, it was a perfect match. Disneyland has always been about science fiction, which is why there is an entire area of the park called Tomorrowland filled with rockets and outer space themed roller coasters.

Among the many things about Jackson that caught the public's imagination in the 1990s was the way he turned his body into a kind of science fiction story. He became an enhanced human, using plastic surgery and pharmaceuticals to change his face and seemingly his race as well. He became whiter than most white people, and his pale bandaged skin became his trademark.

Jackson was a post-human celebrity, and nowhere was this more obvious than in his video "Black or White" (also directed by Landis). Once again, Jackson turned to one of the greatest minds in science fiction to help with the video. He used the morphing software used by James Cameron for The Abyss and Terminator 2 to create a memorable and oft-copied scene where dozens of people's faces morph into each other, streaming through different racial identities, ages, and genders with an uncanny ease.

In the years since that time, Jackson went from being a science fictional figure to a scandal-plagued mystery. It seemed that his body was still morphing, and every time he made a public appearance people tried to figure out what new enhancements he'd gotten. He made the scifi-themed video "Scream" with his sister Janet, filled with weird anime characters and hints that Janet was as alien as Michael was.

Recently, he immigrated to Dubai, possibly the most science fictional city in the world right now. There he was apparently helping to design a theme park, which seems fitting for someone whose identity has always been so closely linked with fantasy.

No matter what you think about Michael Jackson the man, Michael Jackson the legend has transformed the way we think about identity. He injected pop culture with the future, and showed us what happens (good and bad) when you have the means to make fantasies real.

This is the answer to the Broadway's financial crisis: more Michael Jackson. And I'm for it — you can't put a price on this ticket that I wouldn't pay. According to the Chicago Tribune, The Nederlander Organization (large Chicagoan theater producers) have bought the musical rights to MJ's Thriller. Which means more money for penny-pinching MJ, even if they're just purchasing the title track. But as of right now, there's little news, and no creative team for us to pester with these important questions.

But MJ isn't completely removed from the project. According to The Observer the old Pop King, "will be personally and fully involved in the creation of the show." But god knows what that means, and do we trust his judgment at this time? Still zombies on stage, dancing the dance we all know and love, sounds like a win-win. And hopefully it will do so well that it'll come to save New York's Broadway blues.

There are so many people that are going to be excited about this, from the inmates over in the Philippines Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center to, well, everyone I know.

My only question is: when are the auditions, and should I shred my legwarmers crypt-cool style? And because yes, I'm this excited about it, here are many different Thriller videos.

CPDRC Style

Wedding Reception Thriller
There Are A Crap Ton Of These Terrible Vids...My Dream Day Will Have ACTUAL Zombie Garb

Hotdog, Ketchup and Mustard Thriller



Lego Bionicle Thriller



Final Fantasy Thriller



Indian Thriller



Classic Thriller

Thriller - Michael Jackson

[Chicago Tribune]

Hulu:
Hulu's Hulloween special section has load of movies to tantalize your horror needs including, 28 Days Later, Night Of The Living Dead, Christine, Near Dark (my favorite horror flick of all times), The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror and lots more. Unfortunately many people can't view Hulu, so we're offering up other options. But while it's there please enjoy John Carpenter's The Thing:

The Thing:

Ez Takes:
EZ Takes has a fantastic collection of the really good old horror/scifi films. You can download a high res copy for a price or just stream the whole thing from the site. It's got all the classic like The Ape Man, White Zombie,and Human Monster (with Bella Lugosi)

The Sci Fi Drive In:
The Sci Fi Channel offers up a fair selection of classic horror black and whites such as The Killer Shrews, Menace From Outer Space, The Mad Monsters, The Attack Of Giant Leeches and other large attacking thingies to fear.
 
 
 

Teen Angst And Treats on The WB:
Yay it's the "Halloween Special" episodes of Buffy, One Tree Hill and Friends. Sure not scifi but still everyone looks forward to the Halloween special ten times more than the Thanksgiving clip show.

ABC Family:
In true Family style ABC Family is hosting the entire first season of The Adams Family. Plus The Joan Collins in Empire Of The Ants where Ms. Collins plays a scam artist real estate agent in Florida selling people crap land that they all later find out is home to giant ants!

Fearnet:
Besides their adorable 66.6 second film recaps of all the horror classics (from Jason to Candyman) they're also hosting The Midnight Meat Train in its entirety.

Here's Night of The Living Dead in 66.6 Seconds:

Thriller:
And of course would it be Halloween with out a little Thriller? We couldn't embed the whole thing but you can check out the entire Michael Jackson Zombie dance over at yyoutube.e. And until we can find it as a whole to embed, please enjoy Indian Thriller:

Indian Thriller:

Google Video:
Google Video is stocked with so many horror classics which we decided to just give you the best straight up.

Phantasm [Some NSFW]:

Plan 9 From Outer Space:
 
 
 
 
 
And Just For Fun Here's A Little MST3K And Some Rocky Horror:

MST3K Pod People:

Hobgoblins (Because It's My Top 5 MST3K)
 
 
Rocky Horror Picture Show:

Free TV : Ustream

This year's Thrill The World consisted of 4,177 dancers in 72 cities across ten different cities - breaking the record of the previous year, according to the organizers:

With events throughout the world, everywhere from Austin to Saudi Arabia, from Brisbane to Dublin, we’ve stomped all previous events to the ground! As of 6:00pm EST on October 25th we had 4,177 dancers worldwide! That’s more than double our record from last year! ...Over the next few days, we’ll be setting the record straight, and adding up the zombies to confirm those exact final numbers. So come back soon for the official lowdown. World Record confirmation will be posted soon as well!

Don't think that this means they're planning to slow down, however; their target for next year is a staggering quarter of a million zombies joining in.

Flickr Images from Oakmonster's LA Thrill The World 2008 set.

[Thrill The World]

Tapping into current fears of economic collapse and the vanishing middle class, Fortuna portrays a world of extreme wealth stratification:

Set in 2100, "Fortuna" envisions an Earth where a collapsed economy and climate crises have eliminated the middle class, leaving a few very wealthy and the teeming masses in severe poverty. To give hope and avoid revolt, the elite create Fortuna, a mysterious game where one in a thousand wins a big payday and joins the upper classes. But their hidden goal to "reduce poverty" by 30% over 50 years comes with a deadly price tag.

Freddy Rodriguez and Lost’s Dominic Monaghan will play two of the game’s impoverished players, as will the film’s writer-director Barthelemy Grossmann.

[The Hollywood Reporter]