Synopsis

In a gloomy small town, the Mayor leads a mob to the mansion of the mysterious Maestro, an eccentric entertainer accused of frightening the local children. Rather than leave, the Maestro challenges the Mayor to a contest to see who can scare the other first. Through supernatural tricks, elaborate transformations and tightly choreographed performances, he turns the confrontation against his accusers. The villagers gradually discover that the supposed monster is more welcoming than the man who came to drive him away.

Factoids & Trivia

• The music video is a shortened version of the 39-minute film *Michael Jackson's Ghosts*. The full film combines the songs "2 Bad," "Is It Scary" and "Ghosts."

• The project began in 1993 under the working title "Is This Scary?" and was originally conceived in connection with *Addams Family Values*. That version included members of the Addams family cast, but the deal was later abandoned and the concept was reworked.

• Stephen King and Mick Garris were involved in the writing, while Michael Jackson also contributed to the story. The finished project mixes horror, comedy, fantasy and music-video spectacle rather than following a conventional music-video structure.

• Jackson plays several characters, including the Maestro and the Mayor, as well as additional supernatural figures. The grotesque Mayor was designed as a caricature of hostile authority figures who judge the Maestro from the outside.

• The production reportedly cost around $15 million, making it one of the most expensive music-video projects ever mounted. Jackson financed the production himself after the original studio arrangement fell through.

• The film was previewed theatrically in the United States in 1996 and received a prominent screening at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival as part of the promotion surrounding Jackson's work.

• The skeleton sequence used then-cutting-edge visual effects and motion-capture techniques to reproduce Jackson's dancing in an animated form.

• The short film later appeared in various home-video formats, including VHS, LaserDisc and Video CD. A European collector's release paired the film with *Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix*.

• The choreography received the Bob Fosse Award for Best Choreography in a Music Video.