MARVEL COMICS: Kiss Phantom Of The Park



Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (also known as Kiss in the Attack of the Phantoms) is a 1978 television film, starring American hard rock band Kiss. The film's plot revolves around Kiss, who use their superpowers to battle an evil inventor (Abner Devereaux, played by Anthony Zerbe) and to save a California amusement park from destruction.

NBC aired the film at the height of Kiss's popularity in the United States. Due to the film's poor acting and semi-comedic script, most Kiss fans disliked the film. Despite the film's poor quality, it has attained cult film status. The members of Kiss themselves despised the film for making them appear buffoonish. For years after its airing, no one who worked for the group was permitted to mention the film in their presence

PLOT
The film opens at Magic Mountain, where Melissa (Deborah Ryan) and her boyfriend Sam (Terry Lester) are enjoying a day at the amusement park. Sam, a park employee, disappears early in the film while investigating the laboratory of Abner Devereaux, who is the park's head engineer and the creator of a series of lifelike cybernetic creatures on display throughout the park. It is subsequently revealed that Sam has been transformed by Devereaux into a mindless cyborg through the use of a tiny mind-control device attached to Sam's neck.

Devereaux's increasingly erratic behavior is a cause of concern for Calvin Richards (Carmine Caridi), the owner of the amusement park. Faced with a budget crunch, Richards decides to channel money away from Devereaux's projects in order to pay for a Kiss concert. Richards explains to Devereaux that the concert will generate much-needed revenue, but Devereaux is livid. Later, three punks (dressed like members of a biker gang) sabotage one of the rides, placing a group of riders in danger. Richards blames Devereaux for the incident and fires him. Devereaux swears revenge upon Richards, the park, and Kiss, all of whom he blames for his misfortune.

When Kiss arrives for their show, Devereaux first attempts to discredit them by unleashing a robotic Gene Simmons, which proceeds to damage buildings in the park and to injure a security guard. The next day, Kiss is questioned by Richards and some security guards, but no action is taken. His first plan having failed, Devereaux attempts to sabotage the scheduled Kiss concert. He manages to neutralize Kiss's abilities and imprison them in his underground laboratory. Finally, he sends the fake Kiss onstage, where they perform a version of "Hotter than Hell" (called "Rip and Destroy") with altered lyrics meant to incite the crowd to riot. The real Kiss manage to escape from Devereaux and fly to the stage for a final battle with their robotic doppelgängers. After the real Kiss dispatches the fake version, the concert continues and the crisis is averted.

After the show, Kiss, Melissa, and Richards converge on Devereaux's lab and attempt to convince Devereaux to release Sam from his control. But when his chair is spun around, Devereaux has newly-white hair and a frozen expression on his face. It is unknown if Devereaux is now dead, or has slipped into a state of catatonia. The group is despondent, but Stanley stumbles upon the mind control device on Sam's neck and removes it. Sam returns to normal, with no memory of what had happened. Richards laments about Devereaux by saying, "He created KISS to destroy KISS...and he lost." The movie ends with KISS performing "God of Thunder" live onstage.