Brush up your devilish dance moves: Thriller video’s getting a Venice Film Fest screening

It’s close to midnight and something evil will be lurking at the Venice Film Fest. A rereleased version of Michael Jackson’s epic 1983 music video will premiere later this month and we’re scary excited.

Michael Jackson’s 1983 music video for his song “Thriller” has been called “the greatest music video of all time.” And it’s not hard to see why. The mini-movie is nearly 15 minutes long and features not only eye-popping makeup but MJ’s signature mind-blowing choreography, plus, you know, one of the catchiest dance numbers ever recorded. And now we’ll get to experience all again as Michael Jackson’s estate announced Monday that the video will finally get its highly anticipated 3D release at the Venice Film Festival. In a time of ill-advised reboots, this is one revival with which we’re fully on board.

After a legal tussle with video director John Landis three years ago, the estate is playing up the revamped video’s screening. In a statement, Landis said:

"I am so happy to have had the chance not only to restore but enhance Michael Jackson’s Thriller! We took full advantage of the remarkable advances in technology to add new dimensions to both the visual and the audio bringing it to a whole new level.  Even though Thriller was shot traditionally, I was able to use the 3-D creatively.  Let me just warn you, there is a rather shocking surprise in there!"

The aforementioned advances in tech used in the project included enhanced visuals, audio, and special effects. Plus, the ghoulish dancers are sure to be even more mesmerizing. No word on what the “rather shocking surprise” might be, unfortunately. Never before seen footage? Celebrity cameos? We’ll have to wait and see.

Rolling Stone reports that the Venice Film Fest screening will also include a showing of the Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller documentary, which may be even more exciting news seeing as that film hasn’t been available since 1990 (author’s note: I must have watched the scene in the documentary where Michael gets his werewolf makeup put on and squeezes the little facial bladders thousands of times throughout my childhood and my bucket list includes perfecting the “Thriller” dance number, so I may be unusually psyched about these developments).

A wider release of the newly done video has been talked about but no details are available yet. In the meantime, let’s all bask in the glory that is the original “Thriller” before things go 3-D.

See? Wasn’t that just as charming and creepy and cool as you remembered?

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The Venice Film Festival kicks off on Aug. 30.