KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, and We Meet Ben's Creepy Guy
Perhaps the Worst Movie Ever Made for Television. Part 1 of a 2-Part Lamentation.
Is it the worst mainstream movie ever made for TV?
Well, maybe not in a world where The Karate Dog (released May 5, 2004 on ABC Family) and NBC’s Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? (September 30, 1996) exist.
Still, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park is certainly up (down?) there with the dregs of cinema. It was released to enormous fanfare in 1978, right when my friends and I were at the peak of our entrenchment in the KISS Army. We counted down the days until it was scheduled to appear on NBC.
The warning flag should have gone up the minute we learned the flick was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Were we expecting Raiders of the Lost Ark or Star Wars from the creator and purveyor of Huckleberry Hound?
We ate up the hype. It was scheduled for October 28th, right next door to Halloween, which was absolutely perfect.
I traipsed to my best friend Bob’s house to watch it, as the TV at my house only got CBS and ABC (cable was for the wealthy). Unfortunately, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park was scheduled to air right after Hee-Haw, which meant my friend Bob’s parents — big Buck Owens and Roy Clark fans — stayed put on the couch as the travesty unspooled in front of us.
It was horrendous.
Years later, at Bob’s wedding, his dad asked me, “Hey, The Mick…” — he called me “The Mick” — “…Remember when you came over and we watched that KISS movie? That was great…”
Ah, memories.
I thought I was done with KISS and Phantom of the Park until an abrupt reunion with them via my son, Ben. Suddenly, Phantom of the Park was not only back in my life, but it was downright pervasive. Ben was (and remains) obsessed.
And, by accident, we found a pretty amazing “Easter egg.”
A few years back I made a short video about the experience. Get comfortable and click below for Part One of Ben’s Creepy Guy.
And, of course, there’s more….