People who were NOT into KISS that much back then have no idea how HUGE of a time it was being a fan. Times were so different and the fact that was coming on was just the coolest thing ever. Today kids do not understand that.
Steve, you got that right, my friend. I remember the following month in September after KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM aired on TV we were hit with yet another major wave of KISS MANIA, THE SOLO ALBUMS!!!!!!! I'm 53 now and have been married for almost 33yrs. I raised a son who is almost 32yrs old now. At this point in my life I feel like I've done the family thing and now I find myself mentally focusing back on what I feel was the single happiest time of my childhood. And I have to say that period for me was between 1976 - 1981. The impression that KISS made on me will affect me till the day that I die! If you were a major KISS fan during that time then you know the kind of joy that I'm talking about. Here's a link to something special that was just released if you haven't seen it already! thesoundofvinyl.us/kiss-the-solo-albums-40th-anniversary-collection.html
steve cavico I wasn’t even a huge Kiss fan when this first aired and I was going crazy when I saw the trailer! I was about 8 years old and my brother was 6 , we were at our Aunties house and they let us watch it. I’ll always remember that movie from a kids’ perspective!!! One more thing.....STARCHILD!!!!
@@vinylman6580 Right there with ya, pal... I know that joy you speak of... Just saw them at the Indy show on their "End Of The Road Tour".. Still kickin' HUGE, HARD ASS !!! :):):)
I'll never forget this night for a lot of reasons. I was visiting my parents and watching with my Mom. My Mom! She was about 43 but VERY VERY religious. She was telling me oh it's ok it's only their stage personas..🤘🏼😈 Go Mom! Also I was pregnant and had just left school. So crazy. And seeing Kiss in a TV movie was the wildest ride of all that night. With my Mom....wow. Lol
I had read about this movie in magazines several months before it came out and by the time it aired, I was beyond myself with anticipation. I can remember my dad grabbing me to sit down and putting his hand over my heart to feel how it was beating.
People complain alot about this movie but in reality,it was so fun to watch as a kid back in the 70s.Crap,right before this movie came out,I remember those first heavy vcr machines they came out with.My aunt taped kiss meets the phantom on her vcr player.I got to see it dozens of times after it aired on television.Thank God for vcr players back then.☺✌👍
That ABC Saturday night intro is classic.I remember seeing that back in the day.Being 8 years old was a magical time watching kiss meets the phantom on TV for the first time.✌️❤️🙂
My memory is distinct as well. I watched KISS Meets The Phantom with my Dad in a motel room (10-28-78) There was a tragic home fire in Dec. '77. I spent much of '78 with my Dad on business. My first KISS concert was 1/30/78 at The Spectrum...just one month after the fire. Anyway, I was SO excited for this movie. I'd been a Kiss Army member since Spring '76, and the visceral thrill of this "coming" Saturday night NBC movie was as palpable as can be. I sat in the Presidential motel desk chair about 8 inches away from the TV, holding my Radio Shack tape recorder in my lap. That's right, I taped the movie so I'd have a copy of some kind (no VHS yet 📼) to play in the coming weeks. My Dad doing paperwork on the bed as I watched and recorded. I caught him looking at me a couple times, with a look on his face like, "Wow, my son REALLY loves this group." Yeah, he was right. I really did. And still do. ---> The original band: KISS of the 1970s with Ace Frehley on lead guitar! Marc ⚡
That's a fantastic story, especially the part when you talked about your Dad looking at you, and being able to see how much KISS meant to you. Thanks for sharing.
@@kjnodwell Hey, I appreciate your nice comments. And I'm glad you liked the story. It was so exciting for me that night, I can actually still feel it. I only wish I had that cassette! M
I was actually 12 when this movie came out and was beyond excited when I got to see it. To me and my friends, it's was awesome. First of all, kids don't realize how goofy something is; they see it for what it is; and to a kid, it's awesome. Secondly, this was WAY before the days of wide-spread video that we have today. The only way I ever saw KISS then was in pictures in magazines; so, to see them actually moving like this was huge for me. This movie allowed us to see them playing on stage!!
I remember that night watching this in a living room somewhere in Memphis. My parents took us to visit the ex-neighbors and thankfully their son who was about my age wanted to watch this.
So was I! Won the tickets from am AM radio station. I was also at the Forum when Alive 2 was allegedly recorded. What a time! 16 years old. It was a magical time and those that didn’t live it will not understand.
Man this brings back memories i was 7 my brother was 5 and we got our pajamas on and watched this. Kiss was so much more then a band to a bunch of kids they were super heros to us, what a magical time.
me too, except for the VCR part lol. I was just a teenager and it was a treat to me to see a rock band starring in a movie. I was riveted. Probably didn't use the bathroom til it was all over hahaha!
So awesome to see this commercial!! I saw it in 1980 for the first time as a re-run when I was 8 years old. I already had gotten KISS Alive II as a gift from a friend up the street and soon after "Double Platinum" and the solo albums. It not only started me on to my lifelong KISS fanaticism, but my lifelong obsessive love of heavy metal music and the desire to be in a band of my own. I love that movie so much. The movie was a lot of fun, especially for KISS fans who saw it for the first time when they were really young. You have to admit it was something no hard rock had done or has ever done since. It is something no other hard rock band could claim to have in their repertoire. I actually still love that movie. It is very nostalgic!! The main networks ended up re-running that KISS Meets The Phantom movie several times between 1978-1990 to very good watcher ratings. KISS themselves and some people didn't care for the movie, but there were a lot of fans like myself who loved it. Channel 2 even re-ran it in the late 1980's. What a wonderfully awesome flashback! I ended up buying the VHS twice, two DVDs, and more. I have a whole set of different versions of the movie KISS Meets The Phantom. It reminds me of when I was a kid and first discovered KISS. In those days, kids didn't get to see that much KISS on tv. Usually you got to see a song or two once in a blue moon on a late night TV program or a tv commercial for 30 seconds about an album release. To have a movie for an hour and a half with KISS as a young kid was like an evil paradise!! I remember back then our TV was always on in the living room and when I first heard the advertisement, I was so excited! I went crazy. I spent all of my time as a kid taping magazine pictures of KISS into photo albums and on my walls. I was so young that when Gene said in a magazine that he hatched out of an egg, I really believed it. I told my Mom and she gave me the weirdest look.That was back when everyone thought Gene had a cows tongue sewn into his mouth. I never believed that one though. Hahaha. My childhood went from the KISS stories on TV to later Ozzy biting birds and bats heads off. Haha. I have to say I have been one of the most dedicated fans of both KISS and Ozzy(Black Sabbath too). I have been going to see them, collecting and buying the albums, magazines, and merchandise every since, seeing both KISS and Sabbath live in concert 25 times each over the years and Ozzy solo about 16 times live, meeting KISS and Ozzy in person as well as the original Black Sabbath members. I have been to countless hundreds of other metal concerts too, but the early KISS and the movie set me on my course!!
It's always refreshing to hear from another KISS die-hard. I still have all my KISS album's, magazines, books and dolls. Met Paul and Gene at the KISS COFFEE HOUSE in Myrtle Beach and they signed my KISS cards from the 70's.
Yeah baby! I remember this all. My teenage self was salivating when I sat down to watch the 'KISS Phantom' movie on October 28 1978, on a 10" Sony colour TV via analog antenna reception. Good times.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cheesy...embarassing...I've heard it all. But if you were a kid like myself in 1978 anticipating this movie and how it affected you the day after and beyond, then this movie holds a special place in your heart. Seeing this rare NBC trailer gave me chills. Felt like being 6 years old and back in late '78 again! Thanks, robatsea2009!
same here man i remember that! i think it was right before halloween time too because i had the peter criss costume and couldnt wait to wear it lol..so glad im able to remember the 70's..it really was a great time
You said a mouth full! To me at 38 they represented an era in my childhood of fun,rock and pure fantasy! Todays kids will NEVER know such heights,fun,nor excitement! Times were crazy,but somehow innocent in a way
I was tens years old when this came out. I Remember being with my parents driving to St Petersburg, FL to visit family. I was worried I'd miss the movie. We got there on time and I got to watch the whole thing. I was amazed to see my favorite band in the world on TV. Thanks for the flashback!!!!!
I was 10 years old at the time and I also watched it that night back in '78. I have a vivid memory of NBC airing it twice that night, does anyone else remember this?
Funny, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. For the longest time, the original members wouldn't talk about it, and anybody working for the band (who just so happened to bring it up) could've been potentially fired. That's how ashamed they were of this lovable piece of 70's shit.
oh my.. I was so into this at 6 years old. loved kiss. and these were real treats seeing this that Saturday night. tv is not the same anymore.. miss being an innocent kid.
I rember being a little kid seeing the tv spot and anxiously awaiting to see my heroes on tv! I waited and saw the movie and loved it,today I look at it and giggle at its sillyness and fun. You dont have acts of this magnitude and fun anymore,just rap crap! Imagination is dead
I was 8 and my brother was 6. We were visiting our grandmas’ sisters and we didn’t know what was on that night. This promo came on and Bro and I almost crapped our pants! We weren’t huge KISS fans at the time but we liked some of their tunes and we were all about the concept of ROCK STAR/SUPERHEROES ⭐️⚡️👅🐱
0:42 The only time you get to hear Peter's real voice when it comes to anything about this movie (Except when he's singing Beth at poolside). Michael Bell overdubbed all of Peter's dialog for the movie.
As a Kiss fan back in junior high, I was embarrassed to show up to school on Monday morning after this aired. You got tired of defending your fandom, but this movie gave all the bullied that much more ammo.
I know that when the title was originally announced any mention of it in the press had the "Meets the Phantom of the Park" inclusion, but when it was finally broadcast the title was abbreviated to "Meets the Phantom".
@whitewitchoz - as do I. I'm a 40 year old who remembers half of our neighborhood coming over that night and piling into my parents basement and watching it on a big ol color TV...If memory serves it was one of those big jobs that was practically a piece of furniture..and the top lifted up to reveal a turntable and 8 track player...Ah..what fun. Funny the kind of stuff that sticks with you...Yeah in hindsight, the movie was silly as hell, but, a positive trip back for me & good memories
@@a.b.sproductionsllc Compared to today, production was "bad" for all TV movies in 1978 but back then it was fine. When you're a kid, you just didn't care. Everything on TV at the time was pretty magical to me: Battlestar Galactica, Spider-Man, Hulk, Cliffhangers. Might look cheap and cheesy now, but it was just pure fun then.
@Beatles01able In 1978 Oct. 28 was the saturday before Halloween. Our town celebrated Halloween that afternoon. After trick or treating came home to watch this because my older couisin told me about it. Watched it while eating lots of 70s candy pixi stix, dum dums, life savers 4 roll. Your right this movie affected me the day after and beyond.
This movie was never released on DVD and Blu-Ray from Warner Archive, because of the company who owns the movie belongs to the Kiss Organization. It was released only on VHS by Goodtimes in 1988.
They did actually include the movie as part of the "Kissology Vol. 2" DVD release that I think was done via VH1. It played theatrically in Europe with additional scenes not included in the television broadcast, and it was that version on the set.
This clip is the only known footage with PETER CRISS'S voice..."Apes is more like it." I am surprised someone didn't pay Peter to voice his lines later in life and over dub his voice back into this movie. The Fans would really dig it. I wasn't a fan of the Kissology release of this..Attack of the Phantoms. I like many of you remember watching this as a kid a million times and have the original version memorized. I'd love to see THAT version remastered.
When this movie re-aired late night (can't remember when, maybe 2-3 years after the initial showing, maybe longer than that), there was a prerecorded voice over by a lady when there was a commercial break: "We will return to Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park..." and when the commercials were over: "We now return to Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park...", and then she would say "starring Gene Simmons and Peter Criss". No other stars of the movie were named but the funny thing was she mispronounced the names, actually wait, maybe she got Gene Simmons right but I definitely remember Peter Criss being pronounced Crise, like slice
I was a 15-year-old KISS fan in 1978. My 14-year-old cousin and I had been buying their albums since Hotter Than Hell. He persuaded his mom to go to his grandma's house that night (she bitched about it but she went, because she didn't want to miss "Carter Country") so we could have the house to ourselves. We were so excited to see this movie. About 30 minutes in, we looked at each other and I said, "What the fuck IS this shit?" They should have called it "KISS Jumps the Shark." It was a turning point for me. The following year my cousin called and asked me if I'd bought the Dynasty LP yet. I said I hadn't, and he said, "Don't bother. They went disco." I started listening to Blue Öyster Cult and AC/DC, and never looked back.
Sheesh. I was 14 and thought these clowns hung the Moon back then. I almost came in my pants when this debuted on NBC back in Oct. 1978. 😂 Anthony Zerbe must've owed somebody in the entertainment industry a huge favor. 😂
I remember watching this movie too when it was first aired. I was 10-years-old at the time, and I thought it was the second greatest movie ever made, after "Star Wars." BTW, you should check out the "Archie Meets KISS" comic book. Reading it made me think of this movie again:)
Nope it was on NBC October 28, 1978! I will never forget being a little kid a anticipating,bothering my siblings if it was time yet? When is the movie starting? Are you on the right channel?
I missed the first half of this as a kid when it came out because Mom met up with a friend at the local KMart. I told her I was missing KISS and she could care less :) Didn't see the first part until maybe 10 years later on VHS. It does not hold up, but this is a perfect movie that should have been MST3K'd. Still love KISS though even though this movie is horrible...but in a fun way
@Beatles01able The original KISS are the band that got me into rock/metal (via the song "I Was Made For Lovin' You")! Until the original KISS reunited in the mid-'90s, METALLICA were my favorite band-UNTIL they "mainstream"-ized their music and gave themselves a "make-over!" I was 8-years-old when this movie out. Am I "ashamed" of this movie? HECK NO! We're talkin' KISS, here!
The lookalike robots scene was no doubt inspired by a similar moment from the 1959 sci-fi parody "Have Rocket Will Travel".... staring the Three Stooges!
@whitewitchoz In my opinion, THOSE people are jealous because THEIR favorite band's career DIDN'T include the movies! I'd rather watch THIS than a number of films that are on the AFI's Top 100 List!
