Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park
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| Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park | |
|---|---|
 Cover to 1988 VHS release |
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| Directed by | Gordon Hessler |
| Produced by | Terry Morse, Jr. Joseph Barbera |
| Written by | Jan Michael Sherman Don Buday |
| Starring | Kiss Anthony Zerbe Deborah Ryan |
| Distributed by | NBC |
| Release date(s) | October 28, 1978 (USA) |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million (US)[1] |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park is a 1978 television movie, starring American hard rock band Kiss. The movie's plot revolves around Kiss, who must use their superpowers to battle an evil inventor (Abner Devereaux, played by Anthony Zerbe) and to save a California amusement park from destruction.
The movie was aired by NBC at the height of Kiss's popularity in the United States. While it was one of the highest-rated TV movies of the year, its poor acting and semi-comedic script causes it to be regarded poorly even by most Kiss fans. Despite this, it has attained cult film status.
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[edit] Synopsis
The film opens at Magic Mountain, where Melissa (Deborah Ryan) and her boyfriend Sam (Terry Lester) are enjoying a day at the amusement park. Sam, a park employee, disappears early in the film while investigating the laboratory of Abner Devereaux, who is the park's head engineer and the creator of a series of lifelike cybernetic creatures on display throughout the park. It is subsequently revealed that Sam has been transformed by Devereaux into a mindless cyborg through the use of a tiny mind-control device attached to Sam's neck.
Devereaux's increasingly erratic behavior is a cause of concern for Calvin Richards (Carmine Caridi), the owner of the amusement park. Faced with a budget crunch, Richards decides to channel money away from Devereaux's projects in order to pay for a Kiss concert. Richards explains to Devereaux that the concert will generate much-needed revenue, but Devereaux is livid. Later, three punks (dressed like members of a biker gang) sabotage one of the rides, placing a group of riders in danger. Richards blames Devereaux for the incident and fires him. Devereaux swears revenge upon Richards, the park, and Kiss, all of whom he blames for his misfortune.
When Kiss arrives for their show, Devereaux first attempts to discredit them by unleashing a robotic Gene Simmons, which proceeds to damage buildings in the park and to injure a security guard. The next day, Kiss is questioned by Richards and some security guards, but no action is taken. His first plan having failed, Devereaux attempts to sabotage the scheduled Kiss concert. He manages to neutralize Kiss's abilities and imprison them in his underground laboratory. Finally, he sends the fake Kiss onstage, where they perform a version of "Hotter than Hell" (called "Rip and Destroy") with altered lyrics meant to incite the crowd to riot. The real Kiss manage to escape from Devereaux and fly to the stage for a final battle with their robotic doppelgängers. After the real Kiss dispatches the fake version, the concert continues and the crisis is averted.
After the show, Kiss, Melissa, and Richards converge on Devereaux's lab and attempt to convince Devereaux to release Sam from his control. But when his chair is spun around it reveals a presumably dead Devereaux, with newly white hair and a frozen expression on his face. The group is despondent, but Stanley stumbles upon the mind control device on Sam's neck and removes it. Sam returns to normal, and with no memory of what had happened.
[edit] Development
Kiss's commercial popularity was at its peak by 1978. The group's gross income in 1977 totalled $10.2 million.[2] Creative manager Bill Aucoin felt, however, that the cycle of album releases and touring had taken Kiss as far as they could go, and that it was time to elevate the group's image to the next level. He formulated a plan to cast Kiss as superheroes, a process that began with the 1977 release of a Kiss comic book. The band agreed, and plans were developed for a Kiss movie.[2]
To reinforce the idea of Kiss as superheroes, each member of the group was given superpowers in keeping with the theme of their characters—Gene Simmons (the Demon) could breathe fire and had super strength; Paul Stanley (the Starchild) emitted a beam from his eye that could control minds and allow him to hear "faraway" conversations; Ace Frehley (Space Ace) could teleport himself and the group and shoot laser beams from his hands; Peter Criss (the Catman) had super agility, could leap great distances and possessed the amazing ability to make cat-related puns.
[edit] Production
Filming for Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park began in May 1978[3], and it was produced by Hanna-Barbera, known primarily for cartoons such as Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear (in the late 60s, they filmed and produced the live action series The Banana Splits). Most of the movie was filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, with additional filming taking place in the Hollywood Hills. Much of the production was rushed, and the script underwent numerous rewrites. All four members of Kiss were given crash courses on acting.[2]
Prior to completing the script, screenwriters Jan Michael Sherman and Don Buday spent time with each Kiss member, in an effort to get a feel for how they each acted and spoke. Frehley, known for his eccentric behavior, said little to the pair but "Ack!". As a result, Frehley was not originally given any lines, except to interject "Ack!" at various points. In the first draft of the script, Frehley was described as "monosyllabic and super-friendly. Communicating largely through gestures and sounds, Ace might be best described as an other-galactic Harpo Marx."[4] Upon learning of his lack of dialogue, Frehley threatened to leave the project — soon after, lines were written for him.[1]
The band, none of whom had any prior acting experience, had difficulty adjusting to the demands of filming. Frehley and Criss, in particular, became increasingly frustrated with the long periods of downtime normally associated with movie-making. They were both also dealing with increasing levels of substance abuse. Criss's dialogue in the film had to be over-dubbed by well-known voice actor Michael Bell[5] (who had worked with producer Joseph Barbera on a number of past projects), as he refused to participate in post-production. Criss has denied this, stating that he "went to all the looping."[1] The only time Criss's actual voice is heard in the movie is during an acoustic performance of "Beth." On May 27, the last day of filming, Criss and tour manager Fritz Postlethwaite were involved in a serious car accident. Postlethwaite suffered burns but soon returned to work for Kiss. Criss's injuries were minor.[6]
On a few occasions, Frehley left the set during filming due to arguments with the film's director. In one scene that Frehley abandoned, his African American stunt double can be clearly seen instead.[1]
The concert depicted in the film was recorded in the parking lot of Magic Mountain on May 19, 1978, in front of a crowd of 8,000 people. Tickets for the concert were given out by local radio station KMET. The group performed a full concert, which was followed by lip-synched performances of some songs. "Rip and Destroy," an altered version of "Hotter than Hell" that was featured in the movie, was not performed during the concert.[6]
[edit] Cast
The film's cast, in credits order:
- Kiss
- Peter Criss as himself. Also known as the Cat Man, Criss has superhuman agility and leaping powers.
- Ace Frehley as himself. Also known as Space Ace, Frehley has the ability to shoot lasers and to teleport by making a 'hitchhiking' gesture with his thumb.
- Gene Simmons as himself. Also known as the Demon, Simmons has immense strength and can breath fire. His voice has a large amount of reverberation, unlike the other three members.
- Paul Stanley as himself. Also known as the Starchild, Stanley can shoot a laser from the star on his right eye. A similar beam emitted from his eye can control minds and allow him to hear distant conversations.
- Others
- Anthony Zerbe as Abner Devereaux. Devereaux is a genius inventor, and has created all of Magic Mountain's lifelike cybernetic creatures. He is prone to fits of anger, and reacts poorly to criticism.
- Carmine Caridi as Calvin Richards. Richards is the owner of Magic Mountain.
- Deborah Ryan as Melissa. Melissa (her last name is never revealed) frantically searches for her missing boyfriend Sam.
- John Dennis Johnston as Chopper. Chopper is one-third of an unnamed gang who sabotages a ride at the amusement park.
- John Lisbon Wood as Slime. Slime is a member of the same gang, and confronts Devereaux after tampering with one of the park's cyborgs.
- Lisa Jane Persky as Dirty Dee. Dee is in the same gang as Chopper and Slime.
- John Chappell as Sneed. Sneed is the head of security at Magic Mountain. He voices a disdain for Kiss (and rock and roll groups in general).
- Terry Lester as Sam Farell. Sam is an employee at Magic Mountain, and Melissa's boyfriend. Sam vanishes when he starts to investigate some strange occurrences at the park.
- Don Steele as himself. Steele emcees a Kiss lookalike contest at Magic Mountain.
[edit] Release and reaction
Prior to the movie's airing, a private screening was held for Kiss, as well as their management and friends. Despite the positive reactions from all in attendance, Kiss hated the movie for the buffoonish way it made them appear. For years after its airing, no one who worked for the group was permitted to mention the movie in their presence. Despite the band's displeasure with the results, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park was one of the highest-rated TV movies of 1978.[2]
In 1979, Avco-Embassy released Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park in cinemas outside the United States, with translations of the title Attack of the Phantoms. In some countries — Italy, in particular — the film was simply titled Phantoms. The theatrical release featured a vastly different version of the film, with several scenes that did not appear in the original television airing added to the cut. In 1980, Attack of the Phantoms was shown at an Australian drive-in as part of a double-feature, alongside Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare.
The overseas film's overall soundtrack also differed from the original — much of the Hanna-Barbera fight music was replaced by music from the band's own catalog, primarily from their four solo albums. In some edits, the promotional videos for "I Was Made For Lovin' You" and "Sure Know Something" were also edited into the film.
In recent years, Kiss's public statements concerning the movie have been a mixture of bemusement and disgust. On VH1's When Kiss Ruled the World program, Gene Simmons stated that, "It's a classic movie... Classic movie if you're on drugs," while Ace Frehley pejoratively said that "It's the funniest shit I've ever seen." In an early-1990s Sterling-McFadden magazine interview, Simmons compared the film to the infamous B-movie classic Plan 9 from Outer Space, joking that the two movies would make a perfect drive-in double feature.
In the years since its initial airing, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park has achieved cult status, mainly among Kiss fans.[2] It is currently available on DVD as part of Kissology Volume Two: 1978-1991, a collection of concerts and television appearances. (However this is the edited version, which contains hardly any of Ace Frehley's lines.) Previously, availability was limited to two brief VHS releases in the 1980s and a laserdisc release in 1991. In 2005, Cheezy Flicks attempted to release the film on DVD, but due to legal issues, the disc was quickly pulled.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d Leaf, David and Ken Sharp. Kiss: Behind the Mask: The Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 0-446-53073-5
- ^ a b c d e Lendt, C.K. Kiss and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup, Billboard Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8230-7551-6
- ^ "KISS Chronology/Timeline". The KISSFAQ. Retrieved June 30, 2006.
- ^ Hicks, L. Wayne. "KISS meets the Phantom". TVparty. Retrieved July 27, 2006.
- ^ Albanese, Ron. March 5, 2002. "Easy Catman, They are Serious: The Complete Guide to Kiss Meets the Phantom" RonAlbanese.com. Retrieved June 30, 2006.
- ^ a b Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. Billboard Books, 2002. ISBN 0-8230-8322-5
