Ace Frehley Starred in Kiss’ Unintentionally Hilarious TV Movie

Rock and roll lost an icon yesterday when Ace Frehley, founding member of Kiss, passed away at the age of 74. “We are devastated,” said Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “He was an essential and irreplaceable rock soldier during some of the most formative foundational chapters of the band and its history. He is and will always be a part of Kiss’ legacy.”

Part of that legacy was Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, a made-for-TV movie filmed at the height of the group’s 1970s fame. In it, the members of Kiss inexplicably have superpowers that they use to battle an evil inventor and save a California amusement park. The absurd plot, coupled with the fact that it was produced by kiddie cartoon kings Hanna-Barbera, should have clued anyone with a brain that Phantom of the Park would be an exercise in campy foolishness. 

But Kiss seemed blindsided by the reaction to the unintentional comedy, despite an opening sequence in which its members fly around in bumper cars. For years, no one was allowed to mention Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park in their presence. 

If there was one member of the band who had a blast making the movie, it was Frehley, who appeared as his super-alter ego, Starchild. “I never really had any negative feelings about the film,” he told Yahoo Music in 2023. “I thought it was funny. I laughed at some of the scenes, I cringed at some of the scenes, but I was intelligent and smart enough to realize that it was what it was. It was just a silly rock ’n’ roll movie that was designed for Kiss fans.”

Frehley’s character was comic relief by design. Band members told the movie’s writers that the guitarist loved saying “Ack!” So in the first draft of the film, Frehley became an intergalactic Harpo Marx, “monosyllabic and super-friendly,” shouting “Ack!” to punctuate the action. Funny but Frehley wanted more lines and got them, sometimes inheriting Peter Criss’ dialogue when the drummer couldn’t get his words out. 

Frehley admitted he didn’t remember much about making Phantom of the Park. “I was loaded through half of the movie, so I didn’t even know what was going on half the time, but luckily I had cue cards and yeah, I was pretty good at hiding it,” Frehley remembered. 

The Starchild got additional help juicing his performance. “One of the guys on the set was a cocaine dealer. I’m not going to mention any names, but he used to keep cocaine in his hat and come to my trailer,” he said. “I’d do a little coke if I drank too much, which would give me a little pick-me-up, and then I’d be ready for the scene.”

Phantom of the Park was always a comedy to Frehley. “The plot? I have no idea what that movie’s about,” he admitted. “But you’ve got to look at it in the right light. It’s not a serious film. Paul and Gene took that movie very seriously.”

But not Frehley. “I couldn’t stop laughing from the beginning of the movie to the end.”