A review by:

Baz Anderson

DVD contents:

'Kiss Loves You' film
90 Minutes Of Outtakes
Rare Silent Footage Of The Band
Complete 1996 Come-Back Press Conference

Main Feature Running Time: 1 Hour 13 Minutes
Total Running Time: 2 Hours 48 Minutes


Nostalgia is a strange thing, some people instead of fondly looking back at a period of their life take it that extra step further and try and bring that period of life back into the present day. Youth, and the hypes of that generation usually bring about the most nostalgia, but one could argue maybe nothing more so than the insanely popular and successful American rock band Kiss who rose to immense success and thus acquired an almost immeasurable fanclub around the U.S.A. and the world, most recognisable by the white and black facepaint of each member and impressive live shows that included fire breathing, pyrotechnics and spitting blood.

Directed by Jim Henegham, this film "Kiss Loves You" has been ten years in the making and focuses on Kiss back in 1994 at one of the band's lowest points yet, and the rise of Kiss tribute bands and Kiss conventions that people used to re-live the hype and fondle themselves over the nostalgia of the 70's-era of Kiss back when all original members were present and everything was healthy with the band. "Kiss Loves You" covers what it was like to be a Kiss fan in the troublesome 90's and shows a slight insight as to who the true Kiss are.

Interviewing many fans, keeping a more detailed track of a select few fans and some musicians that were around at the time, the film gives a good idea as to how much hype and how much of a following this band has. The fans love Kiss, but as the title of the film bluntly points out with the aid of the film in a somewhat ironic way, Kiss love the fans - or do they?

The film makes an effort to point out the more negative points of the band. Some of these things being the invasion of Gene and Paul of a fan-organised Kiss convention only to reclaim some stolen boots and make a hasty escape, also that these unofficial Kiss conventions were banned so the band could make money out of holding their own Kiss conventions. At the clips of the 1996 conference where the band declare themselves reunited a caption handily points out that Ace had declared himself bankrupt conveniently just nine months before the reunion while at the same time he is telling the world that this reunion is entirely for the fans. We follow a fan who was a good friend to Ace during the hard times, but after helping him out in various ways found that after the reunion Ace was to never get in touch with him again. And also we see the story of a four-year-old boy (on the DVD cover) who's parents had an expensive plaque customised for him to give to his hero Paul Stanley, and after giving the plaque to an uninterested Paul he left the plaque behind for a roadie to pick up. So "Kiss Loves You" reveals itself to be not such a straightforward title after all, the film allows you to come to your own conclusions.

Focussing on a relatively irrelevant rivalry between two Kiss tribute bands Strutter and Hotter Than Hell we can see that people are able to make money out of the Kiss name by pretending to be them on stage. These bands would say it is not about the money though, but about the music. Just like this DVD, it has no connections with the actual band Kiss and just goes to show that anything with the Kiss name on it officially or unofficially can be sold, this film in some ways could be seen as an unofficial convention. The film itself looks like it was recorded in the 80's, not the mid-90's, it is rather unfocused and generally looks older than it is.

"Kiss Loves You" is a film that is a good representative of hypes such as the huge Kiss hype in popular culture, and focuses more on the dedicated fans of the band than the band themselves. It therefore makes this film a little unnecessary; purchasing this DVD in the hope for some unseen Kiss footage or interviews with the band will find themselves bitterly disappointed. The only people this DVD can be of interest to are the people that were caught up in the Kiss hype and can relate to each and every fan in this film. If you don't this is not much more than a slightly interesting insight into the lifestyles of some obsessed Kiss fans and what they do to bring the 70's back to today.