Product Details

• Actors: Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley (II), Anthony Zerbe
• Format: NTSC, Color, HiFi Sound
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: New World Home Video
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000F4IS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,510 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Its the cosmic forcefield that protects our talisman.", September 1, 2003

By 

B-MAN "B" (Earth, occasionally. Until I get bored.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I think it helps if you're a KISS fan to enjoy this movie as much as I do, but I loaned it to a friend who was never into them at all and it became a cult favorite of his which he quotes to this day. This 1978 masterpiece was directed by Gordon Hessler who did tv shows like Hawaii 5-0, Kung Fu, and Wonder Woman and I think the influence is apparent. Also, the film is produced by Hanna-Barbera (as in Yogi Bear & the Flintstones) and that influence is extremely present!

The plot! involves KISS playing live at Magic Mountain where there is lots of cool things going on like a Peter Criss look a like contest! Anthony Zerbe (Omega Man, First Deadly Sin) plays the mentally unstable Abner Devereaux (the Phantom), creator of all the rides at the park and also the machanical apes. Anyway, he starts losing it when some biker dorks mess with his ride so he sends them to his haunted house to get sucked down these big pipes and....wo! My brain stings...hang on. Ok, so Abner ends up losing his job and he totally flips out and creates a little microchip thing that fits behind the ear and turns whoever is wearing it into a mindless robot. He's also jealous of KISS, not to mention hates their music so he creates a duplicate KISS to destroy the original KISS. Whew!

Watching KISS try to act is endless fun. Gene has a few lines like "Starchild!" and other times just opens his mouth and a prerecorded animal growl comes out! Paul says stuff like "Easy Catman, these guys are serious." and shoots a laser beam out his eye so he can listen to what people are saying far away. Ace says "Ack" and can teleport the whole band out of sticky situations (like when be attacked by samurais or cat people in disco suits, stuff like that.). I never found out what Peter's power was but I know his real voice isn't in the film, its a famous cartoon voice like Aquaman or something. He does have some great lines like "without them we'd be ordinary human beings." This is in response to a question about their talisman, which are these little glowing objects they keep in a little briefcase in their apartment. They get their powers from these things you see. Anyway lots of KISS tunes and scenes that are pricelessly cheesy and unintentionally (I think) hilarious. Like when the cops go to question KISS about a Gene look alike bashing up property in the park and all 4 of them are sitting on high lifeguard stools at their pool dressed in their normal black leather and also silver hooded robes sweating their butts off! This scene always gets me. "Rock and rollers don't bathe."

I found this at a dept. store for cheap on VHS and now I wish I would've bought more copies because it's very out of print. I hope it comes to DVD someday but KISS aren't very proud of it so they probably want it to be buried. However, since KISS will usually sell anything for a buck including a big coffin with their autographs on it, maybe their greed will make them put this timeless cheezeball from 1978 on special edition DVD with interviews about why they hate it! I love this movie! "Rip & Destroy!"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please, release it on DVD!, June 1, 2004

By 

Chumash (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this movie on TV once, Way Back When. I didn't understand it then, and I still don't now, but one thing's for sure; this movie *must* be released on DVD! It's a cult classic, right up there with "Plan 9 From Outer Space" in its' (unintentional) badness. KISS fans, unite; petition the band to get this movie released on Special Edition DVD--featuring a "making of" documentary, of course!!! 'Nuff said.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Stole Your Love, May 4, 2005

By 

Ouija (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In the late 1970s KISS was at the absolute height of their popularity and KISS mania was running rampant. Their merchandising machine was sheer genius (until it got a bit out of hand later), which meant that we all wore KISS concert shirts, bought all their records, View-Master reels, comic books and anything else we could get our hands on.

So it seemed a logical idea for the band to capitalize on their success by starring in their own feature film. I, along with millions of other members of the KISS Army, sat transfixed on October 28, 1978, to watch the fabulous foursome for 96 minutes in KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park on NBC.

The plot was pretty simple: the band (starring as themselves) discovers a mad scientist amusement park owner's scheme to turn humans into cybernetic park attractions. The guys caught on when he kidnapped them and built evil KISS cyborg clones that he planned to use to enslave thousands of folks at a KISS concert, which coincidentally would take place at the very same park. But KISS isn't any ordinary band - they've got magical powers that they can summon with their ancient talismans, which they use to escape and foil the evil genius's plan. The climax of the film is a showdown between KISS and their evil robot counterparts.

Not unlike the band, the movie has a comic book feel, which makes complete sense since it was produced by Hanna-Barbera, the folks who gave the world The Jetsons and other cartoons. It was filmed at California's Magic Mountain amusement park and contains some cool footage of the band in concert and in action, with 'Shout it Out Loud,' 'Rock and Roll All Night,' and a great version of 'I Stole Your Love.' While it was a made-for-TV movie, the film actually did enjoy a theatrical release in Europe.

There's no question that all the members of KISS are great musicians and even greater showmen. But they sure can't act. Mostly level headed Paul Stanley gets the bulk of the lines, while Gene Simmons gets to growl and frighten people. Ace Frehley is for all intents and purposes incoherent with his heavy Brooklyn accent and penchant for making weird bird-like noises. And while we get to see and hear Peter Criss sing 'Beth' accompanied by acoustic guitar, we never get to hear him actually speak any lines. His voice was dubbed by someone else because he never bothered to show up after filming for relooping.

Amusing flaws aside, the film is a real trip if you're a KISS fan or if you like 70s nostalgia. There's nothing else like it.