"Thriller" Turns 25, NYC Holds 'World's Largest Zombie Disco'

“Thriller Night” at the Tribeca Film Festival was billed as “the world’s largest zombie disco,” an event at the open-air Tribeca Drive-In with hundreds of undead revelers lurching along to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Tons of cheery brain-suckers (and popcorn eaters) showed up for the event, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the groundbreaking video. Everyone was treated to free zombie face-painting and a station where you could turn a little cotton glove into a sequined Jackson trademark (”We’ve been inhaling a lot of fumes,” commented glove-gluer Michelle Angelino, who unfortunately ran out of shiny stuff early in the evening).

The “world’s largest zombie disco” never really happened. We got a hasty run-through by longtime Jacko choreographer Vincent Patterson (and the zombified crew of Bravo’s hit show Step It Up And Dance) who briefly taught everyone how to do the “double-bump.” But the night was electric nonetheless due to the carnival atmosphere, a big-screen outdoor screening of “Thriller” and The Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and just witnessing the awe that classic Michael Jackson still inspires in fans all these decades later.