Legendary rock band KISS was massive in the mid to late 70's, in fact, they were bigger than John Holmes they were so popular. While KISS was (and somewhat still are) popular for their music, their live performances and their stage makeup, they are also known as one of the most marketed bands of all time, with toys, board games, wine and even the now legendary Kiss Kasket. If a band has that much marketing appeal, you just know they are going to have some sort of celluloid love at some point (come on boys and girls, Spice up your life, for example). Thankfully, that time came way back on October 28th of 1978 (right before Halloween!), when NBC aired KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.
Because all of the musical performance scenes are disabled by assholes, I had to go with something a little different from what I would normally do. I have two clips, with the first one being an NBC bumper for the film, which is fun just for the old style ad alone but made even better by the Phantom of the Park stuff itself. You'll see what I mean when you get to the "We've got to get out of here" line, which should be more than enough to win you over. I also threw in a lengthy promo, which has many moments from the film, including a portion of the awesome opening where the band is introduced to the KISS Klassic, Rock and Roll All Nite. Check 'em out, yo.
Obviously the film was not received well by critics, nor was the band all that fond of how it turned out either, however, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park has become somewhat of a cult classic over the years, which gives it more staying power than anyone would have ever have imagined at the time. I remember seeing this on TV when I was pretty young…I can't remember exactly how young, but I would guess it was sometime in the early 80's. Even though I was well aware of just how cheesy it was, I absolutely loved it, but I also absolutely loved KISS too. Plus, as a budding young horror fan, the amusement park setting and G rated horror elements were certainly appealing to me.
I would love to see the film again, and seeing all the clips I did while getting this post ready only made me want to see it even more. Seriously, I can't imagine anything like this being made now, or at least made, then aired on a channel such as NBC. I mean, each of the members had superpowers! It just doesn't get any hokier than KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park but really, what could anyone have expected?! I call for a DVD release immediately!
