It broke new ground in 1980s pop culture: a $500,000, 14-minute pop video extravaganza featuring a pack of dancing zombies, horror movie actor Vincent Price, and some of the highest-tempo dance routines ever seen.

But now, 26 years on from the launch of his Thriller video - labelled as the most successful in history by the Guinness Book of Records - the "foulest stench is in the air" once again for Michael Jackson, as the American singer faces legal action from the Hollywood master who co-wrote and directed it.

In a move which threatens to heap fresh problems onto the troubled singer - who has suffered from disastrous personal finances in recent years - John Landis has filed a lawsuit alleging he has not been paid for his share of the profits of the nine-million-selling video, or the subsequent documentary, for at least four years.

The case, filed at Los Angeles Superior Court, comes after the launch last year of a double-disc album Thriller 25, which was meant to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of one of the best-selling albums of all time.

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It was not immediately clear what sum Landis was demanding from Jackson - nor whether the case affected either a proposed new Thriller Broadway stage musical being pioneered by the singer or the Thriller spin-off shows which are currently already playing at theatres across Europe, in which Jackson is not directly involved.

According to the music blog The Wrap, the complaint against Jackson filed by Landis and his company, Levitsky Productions, accused him of "fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct". As well as failing to pay Landis for proceeds for four years, he also claims the singer earlier had failed to pay the full 50% of proceeds which he was contractually due.

According to the site, his attorney, Miles Feldman, said the non-payment constituted an open and shut case. "I can't understand what they are doing to John Landis' company," he said. "It is such a straight ahead thing. It makes no sense to me at all."

Landis is one of Hollywood's best-known directors. Among other films, he directed Into the Night, starring Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer and David Bowie, Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop III, both starring Eddie Murphy, and The Stupids.

The Thriller case constitutes the latest in a string of legal wrangles and personal crises which have embarrassed Jackson in the last few years.

Last November, he came within a day of appearing personally at London's High Court to fight claims he owed Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the King of Bahrain, more than $7million.

The two sides eventually struck an eleventh-hour deal over claims by the shiekh that Jackson had reneged on paying money he owed via royalties earned from the sale of songs written by the sheikh that he would perform, as well as by the sale of his autobiography and by a stage show. Jackson was informed that the case had been settled as he prepared to board the plane, and so stayed in the US, his representatives said.

The King of Pop - who abandoned his Neverland fantasy home amid a financial crisis following the 2005 child molestation trial at which he was acquitted - had recently moved into a 19-room mansion in Holmby Hills, California, reportedly paying $100,000 per month, following lengthy spells in Bahrain, Brunei and Las Vegas.

Amid growing financial troubles, he avoided reneging on his $23.9m Neverland mortgage only after transferring his debt to a new company founded jointly by the singer. The property's contents are due to be auctioned off in their entirety this April.

Jackson has not commented on the latest case. In the absence of any spokesman, The Wrap said the singer appears to have appointed his physician, named Tohme Tohme, to take charge of his business and PR affairs.

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