On a night set in the 1950s, a teenaged Michael and his unnamed girlfriend (Ola Ray), run out of gas while driving in a wooded area. They walk into the forest as they leave the car behind and Michael asks her to be his girlfriend. She accepts and he gives her a ring. However, he then tells her that he is "not like other guys." She tells him that's the reason she loves him, but Michael insists that she doesn't understand what he means. As his girlfriend asks what he's talking about, a full moon appears, and Michael begins transforming into a werecat,[3] growling at her to leave in the process. The girl screams in terror and attempts to escape, but the werecat chases her, knocks her down, lunges at her with his claws, and attacks her (off-screen).
The scene then cuts to a movie theater where Michael and his unnamed girlfriend, along with an excitable audience, are actually watching the scene unfold in a Vincent Price horror movie titled "Thriller". Afraid, Michael's girlfriend leaves the theater and Michael follows, telling her, "It's only a movie." Some debate follows as to whether or not she was scared by the movie; she denies it, but Michael disagrees.
They then walk down a foggy road as Michael sings verses of the song excluding the chorus. They pass a nearby graveyard, in which the undead begin to rise out of their graves as Vincent Price's speech is heard. The zombies corner the two main characters threateningly, and suddenly, Michael becomes a zombie himself. The zombies then break into an elaborate dance number, followed by the main chorus of "Thriller" (during which Michael reverts to human form), frightening his date to the point where she runs for cover.
Michael (who has turned back into a zombie) and his fellow corpses chase the terrified girl into the room of a nearby abandoned house. While being cornered, Michael then reaches for the girl's throat as she lets out a horrifying shriek, only to awake and realize it was all a nightmare. Michael then offers to take her home, and she happily accepts. As they walk out of the house, Michael turns to the camera with a sinister grin, revealing his yellow werecat eyes from the opening scene, as Vincent Price offers one last spine-tingling and echoing laugh.
SHOT SIZE: Mid shot/ two shot. CAMERA ANGLE: Eye level/ slight low angle. LIGHTING: Low key quality, film noir. CAMERA MOVEMENT: Hand held.
