Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)

59% of users liked it
(6,394 ratings)

This made-for-television film, an unusual collaboration between hard rock group Kiss and children's television kings Hanna Barbera, became one of NBC's highest-rated programs of 1978. The plot, reminiscent of the average episode of Scooby-Doo, begins with crazed inventor Abner Devereaux (Anthony… More This made-for-television film, an unusual collaboration between hard rock group Kiss and children's television kings Hanna Barbera, became one of NBC's highest-rated programs of 1978. The plot, reminiscent of the average episode of Scooby-Doo, begins with crazed inventor Abner Devereaux (Anthony Zerbe) getting fired from his job at California's Magic Mountain amusement park for ignoring safety standards in his quest to create bigger and better attractions. Devereaux retreats to his underground lab and plots a revenge scenario that coincides with the arrival of rock group Kiss (playing themselves) to perform a concert at the park. Using his knowledge of animatronics, Devereaux creates android duplicates of Kiss and uses them to create havoc. However, he soon discovers he's in for a fight because the group has secret talisman amulets that give them special powers. Thus, the stage is set for a superhero-style showdown between Kiss and Devereaux's squad of animatronic henchmen. Although it is a live-action effort, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park is cartoonish in the extreme as it dishes out plenty of bad jokes and low-budget special effects. It was a considerable ratings success, but also unfortunately branded Kiss with a "kiddie group" image that took years to shake. As a result, the members of the group consider Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park an embarrassment. Nevertheless, it remains a cult favorite with the group's fans and aficionados of odd television. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Gordon Hessler
Written By: Don Buday
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1978 Wide
On DVD: Oct 25, 2005

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Featured Audience Ratings

David L

If there was ever a movie that defined guilty pleasure it would be this one. The plot here is a amusement park has invited KISS for a series of concerts. However, the mastermind behind creating the park is a loopy guy (Anthony Zerbe--who made a career out of playing evil and slimy… More
If there was ever a movie that defined guilty pleasure it would be this one. The plot here is a amusement park has invited KISS for a series of concerts. However, the mastermind behind creating the park is a loopy guy (Anthony Zerbe--who made a career out of playing evil and slimy villains) and he hates KISS--though you are never exactly sure why. But, because Zerbe does not control the park, he is forced to spend most of his time living underneath the park--perfecting his weird audio-animatronic creations (similar to Disney's but even more evil). But, when Zerbe is fired, he vows revenge and unleashes his army of robot zombies!! Egad! Can anyone help? Is there any hope? Well, sure...as it turns out that KISS is actually made up of superheroes who make the X-Men look like losers. The Star Child (Paul Stanley) can shoot lasers out of his eyes and sing well. The Demon (Gene Simmons) can growl like a lion, shoot fire out of his mouth and sing...not so well (but he makes up for it by singing loudly). The Space Ace (Ace Frehley) can appear and disappear at will (sort of like his career with KISS, actually). And, the Cat...is a guy painted like a cat. So how do they have all these cool powers (that look really cheesy on film, by the way) They have a case with magic talismans which enable them to live many lives, play great tunes (sometimes) and shoot things out of their bodies (I'll say no more). So, Zerbe can't get himself a decent hairdo, but he is able to figure out that his next step is to steal these talismans. Unfortunately, they (like most talismans) are protected by a force field and his robot-zombie can't get them--that is until Zerbe creates a cool ray gun which renders the force field inert (by the way, how did he test this to know that it would work?!). In addition, he has created four exact replicas who will take KISS' place after they are kidnapped. Step one (get the talismans) and step two (kidnap KISS) work out great, but considering that Zerbe did not appear to have a step three it's not surprising that it all fell apart at the end. You'd think step three would be global domination or at least getting some hot chicks, but you never hear or see anything that would indicate there is any plan other than to replace KISS with robots (and, judging by this movie, this might have already been done by some other mad scientist before filming began) What can I say but not only is this movie a guilty pleasure but its so bad its good. To sum up here, its fun for Kiss fans and fans of bad cinema
Lafe F

The opening scenes with giant KISS members playing behind the amusement park rides was superb. I remember this being an awesome superhero movie with KISS members having great adventures. When I rewatched as an adult it was lacking in enough fun. It sounds like great campy fun, but… More
The opening scenes with giant KISS members playing behind the amusement park rides was superb. I remember this being an awesome superhero movie with KISS members having great adventures. When I rewatched as an adult it was lacking in enough fun. It sounds like great campy fun, but KISS is not in enough scenes, damnit! When they do appear, it's awesome beyond belief. Their dialogue is beautiful to the ears. I also remember KISS appearing on a Donnie and Marie Halloween Special.