Customer Reviews

Kiss Loves You

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I say that as a compliment: this expertly edited and "come full circle" document of a group of KISS fans, their trials and tribulations with the outside world and with each other- is filmed so deftly, and it is absolutely hilarious. The satire is not lost, even for someone who might not be a fan of the band, but anyone who is a fan and has waded these waters might see themselves in the film.....I hope we see more from this filmaker- highly reccomended.*****

I think this video is very well done. It is, basically, a circular review of the tribute bands (Strutter, Hotter Than Hell, etc.) AND, most importantly, how the original Kiss members, despite the rhetoric of "we'd do anything for the fans," ends up being, truthfully, requoted as "We'd do anything for the fans. . .as long as their is a dollar in it for US." Be forwarned, when you watch how Kiss goes to one of the conventions, and, in front of everybody, starts to take back "their" stuff, throwing it in boxes, claiming it was stolen from them. While that is true, couldn't they have waited until the closing of the convention, and gone in, with the police, after hours, and stocked up on the stolen goods INSTEAD of doing it in front of the fans--who didn't know it was stolen? When Paul is given a plaque by a little 4 year old boy, and then leaves the wooden plaque behind, on the sound board, it looks REALLY bad. . .You will no longer see Kiss for the super-heroes they want people to believe they are. . .but sadly, you see them as fractured humans, in love of money and fame, whose real drive is not music, nor the dream they gave hundreds of fans of "believing in themselves" but whose real drive is the almightly dollar. There are no more loyal fans than Kiss fans; this video is VERY well done. . .but beware: poetic justice is served to all of us fans on a BIG FAT PLATE of arrogance. Sad. . .but MANY Kiss fans, who in one way or another, have felt jilted by the band, will identify with the contents of this video. Remember, they are human, too, and to look-up to 4 flawed humans, will only deliver spoiled pie. Well done. 5 stars out of 5 Stars.

This documentary gets some emotion out of you, that's for sure. I bought it expecting to laugh at crazy KISS fans, but really it created the opposite reaction.
Maybe I'm too close to the source material, being a semi-fanatical KISS Army member myself, as I found this to be a real downer. But a very well done and interesting downer, with a few funny moments.

Here were the high/low points:
-The "KISS Family" was pretty wacky, it seemed like the Dad was the ring leader and the rest of the family was being dragged along for the ride (or brainwashed, in the case of the Paul Stanley obsessed son). Even non-family gets roped in when "Felix" as Vinnie Vincent joins up.
-The "War of the Tribute Bands" is interesting and has a nice wrap-up, although the drummer/roadie for Hotter Than Hell looks so road weary at the end, you just feel sorry for the guy.
-Bill Baker's story really shows the dangers of idolizing your heroes. He got to live the dream of being "friends" with Ace-but ended up being "dumped". Really though, Bill appears to just have an obsessive personality, as he quickly moves on to idolizing Elvis-a hero that can't hurt or let him down.

Other highlights include:

-"Nerdy Gene" at the convention who seems to take no pleasure in being a KISS fan, apparently it's serious business.
-Hearing that the "Paul Stanley Kid" is now 13 and listens to Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.
-The silent 8mm footage of a Hotter Than Hell/Dressed to Kill show.

I recommend this DVD to even the casual KISS fan, as it really places the role of KISS in perspective. KISS rocks, KISS is fun, but maybe not the best thing to build your life around.

Buy it and shed a tear or two...or not.

Purchasing this DVD, the subject matter seemed intriguing, but i had low expectations, overall.
However, after viewing, i came away extremely impressed with the film & 8th grade films.

The footage of Todd Youth in his Hell's kitchen (literally), and Dick Manitoba were worth the price alone, yet this well paced & thought out documentary provided so much more.

The rivalry between two top KISS tribute bands was fascinating & mirrored the fractured relationships in the actual KISS.
Ace Frehley fanatic, Baker, had an interesting story of his own, with his real life bond with his hero & the subsequent rejection he endured.
Simmons & Stanley raiding an innocent Kiss convention like the NYPD illustrates just how much these members truly cherish their beloved army of followers.

All in all, a great viewing of the troubled relationships between fans & their heroes, and the connection that binds them together.

The extras are loaded on the DVD, as well, with some rare 1976 footage of Kiss tearing it up in their heyday.

Recommended!

By the people for the People. An interesting glimpse into fan worship, and the let downs it sometimes brings. People can really make you laugh.

I recently found out through a friend that I happened to be in a documentary film called "KISS Loves You," a look at KISS fandom filmed during the 1990s. I immediately tracked down a copy of this DVD for myself, and watched it last night. I was afraid I was going to be embarrassed by this video, but it turned out to be a very fun little movie... and yes, my brother and I are in it, for all of two seconds. Near the start of the film there's a shot of all the people lined up waiting to get into the 1995 KISS Convention. As the camera goes down the line, I open my jacket to display my Kiss T-shirt and give a thumbs up, and my brother mutters a sarcastic "Heyyyy, HEAVY METAL dude!" at the camera. But enough about my cinematic debut... how's the movie, you ask? Even if I wasn't in this movie, I would've enjoyed it anyway, as it brought back a lot of memories for me. "KISS Loves You" is an interesting time capsule covering a somewhat odd period in KISStory.

By the early 1990s KISS were at a low point in terms of popularity and a lot of local fans began dreaming of a return to the band's makeup-encrusted days of yore. Some of these fans banded together and started up a loose network of local KISS conventions or formed tribute bands as a way to try and recapture a little of that classic vibe. I was a regular New Jersey KISS Convention attendee every year back then, and I saw more than my share of tribute bands as well, so "KISS Loves You" made me smile, it made me cringe at times, and even made me a little sad in places.

The cast of characters in "KISS Loves You" is as large as the KISS Nation of course, but it focuses on the members of two tributes in particular -- Hotter Than Hell and Strutter -- and a fella named Bill Baker, an Ace Frehley lookalike/obsessed collector who was also a regular at the conventions, with his massive collection of Ace memorabilia in tow (much of it obtained from Frehley himself) and performing with his Frehley tribute band, "Fractured Mirror." Of course, a lot of weirdos from the Convention floor get time in front of the camera as well, including "The KISS Family," an entire Brooklyn clan that came to the Convention every year in full KISS makeup and homemade costumes, including a four year old Paul, a horrendously obese uncle as Gene, and a Mom who apparently had no idea who Ace Frehley is, even though she dressed like him. This portion of the documentary is the most fun, with various fans making Bold Statements about the state of KISS fandom and additional KISS related commentary from celebs such as Jerry Only (the Misfits), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), and Dick Manitoba (The Dictators). Much additional hilarity is provided by the comments from members of Strutter sniping about the guys in Hotter Than Hell, and vice versa... turns out that Hotter Than Hell's "Ace" and "Peter" were one time Strutter members who broke away and formed their own band after a falling out with Strutter's "Gene" over money. (Sound familiar?) Then the scene switches to 1995 and things start to get ugly real fast. Some grainy news footage is shown of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley crashing a KISS Convention in Michigan and taking back costumes and gear that was apparently stolen from one of their warehouses, in front of hundreds of amazed attendees. Noting the popularity of these conventions, the band then mounts its own Official KISS Convention Tour (at $100 a ticket!!) and copyrights the phrase "KISS Convention." Local fan gatherings are known as "Expos" from this point on. A year later in 1996, the original KISS lineup finally reunites. Of course, everyone's thrilled at the prospect at first, and all is right with the KISS fan universe... for about a year. Then things start falling apart in KISS fan land. With the real thing back in action, there's not as much demand for tribute bands, so Strutter and Hotter Than Hell find themselves playing fewer gigs (with less people showing up at the gigs they DO get). A very bitter Bill Baker reveals that Ace dropped him like a hot rock as soon as he rejoined KISS and doesn't even return his phone calls anymore (it turns out that Bill eventually sold off all of his Ace crap, bought a house with the proceeds, and now collects Elvis crap instead). Attendance at the Expos starts to dip (which I personally can attest to... the last one I went to in 1997 was the least populated, and least fun, of all the Expos/Cons I attended), and by 1999 everyone was pretty much KISSed out and sick of the whole thing. One of the last images in the film is a local KISS Expo being held in a nearly empty gymnasium in 2001. I suppose the message is that maybe KISS fans should've been more careful what they wished for. They may have gotten what they wanted when the Gods of Thunder returned, but in the end it wound up blowing their little local "scene" apart.

"KISS Loves You" was a cool little time capsule that I think most KISS diehards will enjoy checking out. If you've ever attended a KISS Convention or Expo on the East Coast, keep an eye peeled because you might find yourself in the film too!!

This is an excellent well-made documentary. I was not expecting that at all. It left me with an empty shallow feeling, but sometimes that's just how life is. If you consider yourself a KISS fan, you need to watch this documentary. It will make you see KISS from the perspective of true KISS fans. There is no happy "hollywood" ending here, you might even start to dislike KISS after watching this, but you'll definitely feel something for the fans.

As a die hard kiss fan I have mixed feelings about this film . On one hand the footage of fans and tribute bands is really interesting but the film maker show kiss in a negative light in many scenes and while I know Gene & Paul are not perfect I dont think its fair that they didnt get to say their side of the story. Overall an interesting documentry on life as a kiss fan .

I truly enjoyed watching this film..for both Kiss fans and non-kiss fans alike. One can only watch with amazement the lengths some rabid fans will go for their idols. This movie manages to be both hilarious and touching at the same time..Highly recommended!

Save your money, this is one of the worst videos I have seen.

To sum it up.

This DVD is nothing more than a glorification of some of the worst looking and sounding Kiss tribute bands I have ever seen.

Nothing to do with Kiss except for a few people who didnt recieve the attention they would like from Kiss.

As for the guy who thinks he looks like Ace Frehley, dream on.
Maybe Ace hasnt contacted you since you sold off many one of a kind Kiss collectables so you could buy Elvis memorabilia.

As for the sorry little kid who made a plaque for Paul Stanley.

The real sorrow story is that the parents thought that spending $100.00 and using the face of thier kid was going to get them some sort of special attention from Paul.

They got exactly what they deserved for exploiting thier kid, nothing.