Movies - KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park

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	Movies - KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park

KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park is a 1978 Made For TV movie starring KISS (Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, playing themselves), who must use their superpowers to battle the evil inventor Abner Devereaux (played by Anthony Zerbe).

The movie was aired by NBC at the height of KISS' popularity in the United States. While it was one of the highest-rated TV movies of the year, its poor acting and less than stellar script causes it to be regarded poorly even by most KISS fans. Despite this, it is now sought after by fans as a cult film.

Plot summary

It seems like an ordinary day at Six Flags Magic Mountain for Melissa (Deborah Ryan) and her boyfriend Sam (Terry Lester), who are enjoying a day at the amusement park. But a mystery soon unfolds when Sam disappears while investigating the laboratory of Abner Devereaux, who is the head engineer and the creator of a series of lifelike cybernetic creatures on display throughout the park. Sam's fate is soon revealed - he has been transformed by Devereaux into a mindless robot, thanks to the use of a mind-control device attached to Sam's neck.

Devereaux's increasingly erratic behavior is a cause for concern for Calvin Richards (Carmine Caridi), the owner of the park. Faced with a budget crunch, Richards decides to channel money away from Devereaux's projects in order to pay for a KISS concert at the park. Richards explains to Devereaux that the concert will generate much-needed revenue, but Devereaux is livid.

When Devereaux is blamed for a malfunctioning ride, Richards fires him. Devereaux swears revenge upon Richards, the park and KISS, who he blames for his misfortune.

When KISS arrives for their show Melissa enlists their aid to help her find Sam, who is still missing. KISS utilizes their special powers to help Melissa. The powers, which are generated from a group of four talismans, give each bandmember a power that relates to their stage persona - Peter (Catman) is cat-like reflexes and athleticism; Ace (Space Ace) can teleport through space; Paul (Starchild) can use a star-shaped beam to control peoples' minds and eavesdrop on far-away conversations; Gene (Demon) can breathe fire, is incredibly strong and projects his voice with a strange reverberation.

Devereaux's scheme for revenge is to create robots that look and act exactly like the real KISS. He first attempts to discredit KISS by unleashing a robotic Gene Simmons, which proceeds to damage buildings in the park and injure a security guard.

When this fails, Devereaux decides to sabotage the scheduled concert. First, he sends Sam to steal the band's talismans, rendering them powerless. He then captures KISS and imprisons them in his lab. Finally, he sends the fake KISS onstage, where they sing alternate lyrics to KISS songs in an effort to incite the crowd to riot.

KISS uses the little power they have left to recover their talismans and escape. They then fly to the stage for a climactic battle with their robotic doppelgängers. After the real KISS dispatches the fake version, the concert goes on and all ends well.

After the show, everyone converges on Devereaux's lab in the hopes that he will release Sam from his control. But it is too late - Devereaux appears dead. But when the mind-control device is discovered and removed, Sam is back to normal.

Quotes

:Cat Man: Weird type of person... I wonder who could've done it? :Star Child: Good question, Cat Man... What do you compute, Space Ace? :Space Ace: Insufficient data at the moment, Star Child. :Cat Man: We better look into it. :Demon
: *growl*

:Guards confront KISS about the Demon's berzerk :Cat Man: Gene's brother was an only child! :Star Child: Easy, Cat Man, they are serious. :Space Ace: ...And they've got guns!

Trivia

In VH1's When KISS Ruled the World, 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 s**t I've ever seen."
In an early-90's Sterling-McFadden magazine interview, Simmons compared KISS Meets The Phantom to the infamous B-movie classic Plan 9 From Outer Space, joking that the two movies would make a perfect drive-in double feature.
Peter Criss' dialogue in the film was over-dubbed in post-production by well-known voice actor Michael Bell
, who had been a long-time associate of producer Joseph Barbera.

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Movies - KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park

Plot summary

Quotes

Trivia

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