Kiss - Chased by phantoms
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Kiss - Chased by phantoms |
| Original title | Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1978 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gordon Hessler |
| script | Jan Michael Sherman , Don Buday |
| production | Hanna-Barbera , KISS / Aucoin Productions |
| music | Hoyt Curtin |
| camera | Robert Caramico |
| cut | Peter E. Berger |
| occupation | |
| |
Kiss - Chased by Phantoms is a 1978 television film produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. that was also shown in theaters outside of the United States . This film explores the then propagated superhero - Image of the group Kiss on; his action, which takes place predominantly in the Magic Mountain theme park , focuses on the members of the group equipped with special skills. The original title of the film is Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park . The locations were the amusement park and the Culver City Studios in Culver City . The members of the group have superpowers in the film, which are bestowed on them by four talismans , which have the shape of the mask of the respective Kiss member.
action
Engineer Abner Devereaux loses his job at Magic Mountain Amusement Park, California, after neglecting safety standards when developing new attractions. He withdraws to his laboratory and seeks revenge. He develops a scenario that happens to coincide with the arrival of the rock band Kiss, who are about to give a concert in the amusement park. In doing so, he makes use of his invention, with which he can generate robot clones of humans in order to implement his plan. As an assistant he first manipulates his assistant Sam. Some harassing youngsters are also brought into the laboratory.
When Kiss arrives, Devereaux tries to use a Gene Simmons robot to discredit her by causing him to damage buildings in the park and attack security guards. The next day, Kiss is questioned about the incident, but no consequences follow. Devereaux then tried to sabotage the concert himself. He manages to neutralize Kiss' superpowers and lock the band in his laboratory. Then he sends the fake Kiss on stage, where they play a version of the song Hotter Than Hell that has been changed to "Rip and Destroy" in order to upset the fans. The real Kiss manage to escape from the laboratory, and they fly to the stage to compete in the final battle against their doppelgangers. After their victory, the band resumes the concert and the crisis is over.
After the show, Kiss and Melissa and the park boss, Calvin Richards (Carmine Caridi), go to Devereaux to persuade him to release Sam. When he turns around, Devereaux has white hair and a rigid expression, although it remains unclear whether he is dead. Paul Stanley succeeds in removing the mind control device from Sam, so that Sam can return to normal but cannot remember anything.
- Member superpowers
The Kiss members' superpowers are explained by the fact that they are bestowed on the band by four talismans that are in a box. They enable the members to spit fire (Gene Simmons), to shoot “ laser beams ” out of their eyes (Paul Stanley), to jump particularly far and high (Peter Criss) or to bring the whole group to another place by the power of thought (Ace Frehley).
Oddities
Due to his drug and alcohol-related absences, Ace Frehley was occasionally replaced by his stunt double while filming . This man, originally only intended to step in for Frehley in more dangerous scenes, hardly looked like him physically and was dark-skinned. In several scenes in the film it is clear that Frehley was not involved in the respective scene.
In the third season of the animated series South Park , the film serves as a loose template for the plot of the episode " Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery" , in which the band Korn has special powers and acts in Scooby Doo manner Has to solve puzzles in order to be able to give a concert.
Broadcasting and dissemination
The film premiered in the United States on October 28, 1978 on NBC and was released internationally in 1979. It was shown in cinemas in numerous countries, including Peru , Germany and Finland .
reception
Rotten Tomatoes describes the film as "extremely comic because it has lots of bad jokes and cheap special effects." It was a "noteworthy success in terms of ratings, but unfortunately also branded the Kiss group as a 'kiddie band', which makes the band members feel embarrassed today". Nevertheless, it is a "cult film for fans of the group and friends of unusual TV programs".
filmflausen.de wrote that the film was "gritty fantasy trash with miserably illuminated backdrops, a ' TKKG ' plot , platform shoe terror and a few rockers who mercilessly make monkeys without anyone seeming to have fun."
Web links
- detailed German review on Remember it for later
- Kiss - From phantoms chased in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ No Regrets; Ace Frehley & Joe Layden, MTV Books, 2011; ISBN 978-1451613940
- ↑ imdb.de
- ↑ Description on rottentomatoes.com
- ↑ Review at Filmflausen.de ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
