User reviews

Party Monster is based on the true story of 80s club kid and promoter, Michael Alig, infamous for his bizarre New York parties and, later, for the brutal murder of a drug dealer.

It's adapted from Alig's friend James St James' book Disco Bloodbath by filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, whose earlier documentary about Alig actually inspired St James to write the book. After a nine-year absence, Macauley Culkin returns to film as cherubic bisexual Alig, who persuades James St James (a camp Seth Green) to teach him the art of infamy.

Famous for doing nothing long before reality TV, Alig becomes a manufacturer of celebrity and a promoter, serving up some wild parties, including a Halloween bloodbath, truck rave and kinky hospital party. The costumes, by Richie Rich and Michael Wilkinson, are spectacular and capture the excesses of the era. These kids affix fake spiders and cobwebs to their faces, wrap themselves in blood-soaked bandages,wear full body costumes and never look less than fabulous.

Considering the low budget and appalling production values, the high profile supporting cast is a surprise. Dylan McDermot plays Galien, club owner and Alig's mentor, with Mia Kirshner as his wife, Chloe Sevigny as Alig's girlfriend, plus Natasha Lyonne, Marilyn Manson and John Stamos. Wilson Cruz is enigmatic as wannabe and drug dealer Angel, and Wilmer Valderra is suitably objectified as Alig's beloved beefcake, DJ Keoki.

Party Monster suffers from uneven performances and poor direction but despite this, it's fascinating. It captures the disposability of party drug culture convincingly and will most likely become a cult classic. ***/***** stars.

'I'm the lowest kind of celebrity, a playwright's wife,' Celeste Holm tells Anne Baxter in All About Eve. Fifty-plus years later, she might still make the snapshot page in Vanity Fair (once), but new kinds of celebrity have clambered up to push her further down the pecking order. There are the Elvis impersonators and celebrity look-alikes. There are the trash-talking competitors on the reality shows. And there are the Club Kids, urban counterparts to the beach bums of a generation or two ago who sought nothing more out of life than an Endless Summer. What the Club Kids want is an Endless Party, where they can flame out in a drug-enhanced limelight.

The Limelight was a fixture among New York City's young downtown hedonists in the last decades of the last century. It's the center of a very small universe for James St. James (Seth Green), a budding queen from across the Hudson who, equipped with little else than a trust fund and received notions of imperious glamor, sets out to be the social arbiter of the club scene. His misfortune (and ultimately opportunity) is meeting up with hick Michael Alig (Macaulay Culkin), just off the Big Dog from one of the square states, who will prove to be St. James' very own Eve Harrington.

Imagine Bob Hope and Bing Crosby gone gay, their bitchy dynamics holding these buddies together as they prance and stumble down the Rave Road. They live in cold-water walk-ups, spending what money they have on costumes and drugs (when they can't cadge them). As a living, they set themselves up as promoters and taste-makers for struggling entrepreneurs like Dylan McDermott, whose Limelight is barely breaking even. They dream up ever more outrageous parties to lure other kids from the bridges and tunnels and tenements once occupied by immigrants but now serving as digs for druggies and rodents. (Marilyn Manson as stoned drag queen Christina serves as 'driver' for one of the events, trying to maneuver a big rig in platform heels.) Along the way there are Alig's discarded or disengaged boyfriends (Wilmer Valderrama) and girlfriends (Chloe Sevigny), sexual preference always taking a back seat first to Ecstasy and K, then to crackpipes and snorted heroin.

Party Monster derives from St. James' memoir Disco Bloodbath – as a result of his plunge into addiction, Alig ends up incarcerated for the murder of his dealer Angel (Wilson Cruz). And as St. James, Green delivers a pitch-perfect performance, blackly funny yet with intimations of the shallow life he knows he leads. It's Culkin's misfortune to have his co-star so expertly steal the movie, but, with his sullen, pouty mouth, his child-star successes well behind him yet not quite filled out enough for adult roles, he's plausible as a callow social-climber who's nothing but surfaces and attitude anyway. (And as his good-time-gal-pal mom, Diana Scarwid is, as always, memorable). Party Monster maintains a deft balance between its faintly horrifying humor and its somber notes. It's a story about kids old beyond their years who, as they proudly proclaim, are utterly superficial, but still not (quite) the 'monsters' they pretend to be. Party Monster – a much more interesting and accomplished piece of work – is the movie that '54" should have been, and maybe even thought it was.

Living in the UK means you very rarely get to see some amazing films. Having read the book I heard about the film and as you do, immediately ordered it to be shipped over, not expecting to find it anywhere near as good as the book. Boy, was I wrong.

Macaulay Culkin as Alig is annoying and my one pet peeve of the film. He just didn't make Michael real to me. His entire performance seemed to scream "I was a child star, now I'm playing a gay addict! Look at me!". The role was also written for him and I got the impression that because of this he felt he didn't have to act too hard to be brilliant. He never, despite his attempts, gave Alig another level. The accent didn't add anything to the character and by the end I was left wondering why everybody had loved Michael Alig.

Seth Green on the other hand stole the film from right under Culkin's nose. His performance as James St James was one of the best I have ever seen in my life. He transformed himself until you didn't even realise it was the guy from Buffy you were watching. His mannerisms were spot on and really did St James justice. His voice was not as whiny or non descript as Culkin's, it was simply a prop used by him. His character managed to appear human throughout the entire film and his habit of touching his hair at least once a scene was fabulous. Green deserves an award for such an amazingly real, yet flamboyant performance.

The supporting cast were also fantastic and each and every person added to the story. The removal of Mavis from the film did annoy me slightly but after a while you forget she was ever there. The costumes, and behaviour of every single Club Kid in this film were fantastic. You really felt as though you were actually watching this happening. Marilyn Manson as Alig's first Superstar Christina was perfect, adding to a character not mentioned a lot in the book.

All in all an absolutely fabulous film that deserves far far more credit than was given to it. Seth Green really held the film together, showing rare glimpses of humanity amongst all the glitter. Green was perfectly cast and deserves at least some recognition for a fantastic performance. The only downside was Macaulay Culkin, who simply did not shine. He stood back and let the supporting cast, and especially Green turn this into their movie, not his.

I know this film doesn't have that good of a rating, but actually I thought this was an interesting film. It had such an incredible story to it, it is set in the 80's and is about the club kids and how clubbing came to be so popular. To be different was so cool and the make up, the sex, the drugs were such a way of being released from the "normal" world. Where Alig was going into such high places, you guess it, it can only go downward.

Seth and Maculy are just so adorable in this film, I just loved their chemistry and how they played off each other. These were such risky roles, but they took them on and accepted them into their own. They also researched the film and I believe should get more credit for it. It's a new age Rocky Horror Picture Show, sit back and feel fabulous!

7/10

Michael Alig (Macaulay Culkin) is a kid from Indiana who befriends James St. James (Seth Green) in NYC and becomes a big party promoter for Peter Gatien (Dylan McDermott) and his wife (Mia Kirshner) during the 90s. Michael is aggressively ambitious, vindictive, petty, and self-promoting. He befriends Angel Melendez (Wilson Cruz) turning him into one of the club kids. As his drug haze filled life deteriorates, it culminates in the murder of Angel.

It's a fascinating story. The actors are giving their all. Macaulay Culkin puts in an all encompassing performance. The fact is Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato don't know how to direct a big movie. The digital video format and the amateurist directing relegates this to nothing more a TV movie. And so much of this seems to be toned down. A more aggressive treatment of the material is needed.

The material here (covered in a similarly named documentary) is fascinating. The 90s New York club kid scene was a distinctive period with many crazy sights and scenes. Unfortunately, this film is poorly made on just about every level.

Most of the acting is not just bad, but some of the worst you'll ever see in a mainstream film. This is exacerbated by poor directing. The dramatic scenes don't feel dramatic (I yawned as one character nearly died). The costumes are very good, about on par with the actual club kids. So the film looks good at least.

Another issue: they changed so much for this movie from the actual story! If you research the actual murder and such after watching this you'll just be confused as to why they made all those arbitrary changes. I certainly wasn't to make a great film. Many people like this film, but I suspect deep down they want to live in the 90s club kid scene, and aren't objectively judging the film for its merits.

The old saying is "truth is stranger than fiction," and you know what, it's true. In "Party Monster" we are taken on a very trippy and true little journey that allows us to see first-hand, the crazy club life of New York City in the 1980s. In particular, we get an up-close and personal biography of the "club kids." The "club kids" were a group of young party monsters that were actually paid by club owners to show up at their clubs. Mind you, these kids did not do any kind of performing at all, they simply showed up. However, when you see their outrageous costumes and attire, you see why people had their eye out for them. These kids were bizarre and odd and stoned and well, weird. Livng lives that were so out of balance, tragedy was inevitable. Green and Culkin portray the two most prominent members of this group and they are both good. However, it is Culkin that really steals the movie, breaking away from his stereotypical characters of the past and playing somebody that very few actors would be brave enough to take on. The reason I gave this movie 10 stars, is the look and sound. This movie is like watching an acid flashback from the 1980s. I mean, you are there, in the room with them as they strut in and snort up. The music is 1980s, the attitude is 1980s, it is hard to describe. Much of the film is dream-like. Moreover, Culkin is mesmerizing as a character too odd for words. No, the story and acting are not Oscar-worthy, but the look of the film, the feel of the film, wow! I predict that this film will become more popular as the years go by. It has the qualities of all those great midnight movies of the 1980s. I really recommend it for people craving something different and historical (in a weird sense).

Sorry Mac....you are pretty to look at with your bee stung lips and nice bod, but Seth kicks your butt in the acting arena! I have been following this story for a long time and read the book, and I feel that Seth perfectly captured the droll but self deprecating humor of Mr. St.James, where as Mac just kinda,(sorry), sounded like his voice is still changing. Consolation if any? I believe that Michael is too complicated for anyone to replicate! See, and enjoy!

Alright, I'll admit it. I was very interested in the film, "Party Monster" for the first half-hour. Once I realized that that was basically the entire movie, I had lost interest completely.

The outrageous make-up and costumes are a show by itself, but that doesn't compensate an entire film. Seth Green does well portraying the 'fabulous' James St. James, the tutor of Michael Alig's party ways. However, he is given nothing to work with thanks to MaCauly Caulkin's bore-some acting, which has no development or growth of any kind. One can argue that the character of Michael Alig goes nowhere, but the script seems to differ.

Half the fun of "Party Monster" is just watching the gaudy and out-of-this-world costumes. But as I said before, they become a tiresome spectacle that wears out the movie. Even the supporting cast becomes rather boring to watch. Dylan McDermott portrays Alig's party sponsor. With the exception of one particular scene, he shows no emotion throughout the film.

This film is a real shame, considering it is one of the most intriguing stories about the real-life underworld of the eighties. The film still fails when capturing the essence of Michael Alig and the club kids.

When Seth Green says the line "I'm not addicted to drugs, I'm addicted to glamour!", you should know what the entire movie is about. With the overblown use of intense drugs and random party scenes, "Party Monster" instantly becomes a party disaster.

A famous quote by Pauline Kael about Greta Garbo was that "she was the complete reason to see a film". Well, let me tell ya, I will agree, astonishing even myself, that Maculay Culkin fits this description about PARTY MONSTER. Off screen for 9 years and making two excellent eye-popping returns (the sly wry and hilarious SAVED is the other) 23 year old Culkin is nothing more than front and center startling and compelling in this very clever club culture expose of the very real and very cruel pill bunny Michael Alig. Released clumsily on one print in Australia and off screen in 2 weeks, this film deserved smart marketing and even a reissue before DVD dumping because it has a potentially huge audience and major industry credit as a very difficult genre to re create successfully. I think PARTY MONSTER is a complete success in its serious efforts to capture the dance party scene of the 90s and the glittering bowel of its dark side. The performance by Seth Green is equally disturbingly funny, complete with effete rantings and flummoxed quips that leave the viewer smiling in admiration at his genuine talent. The look of PARTY MONSTER is almost as if Larry Cark re made "Studio 54" and got Bob Mackie to create the costumes. The art direction and costume design is especially perfect and adds hilariously to what is, I believe one of the most clever and nasty black comedies to emerge from the USA this century. Marilyn Manson as gigantic dopey drag queen Christina (geddit) is especially hilarious and shocking. If you have seen the equally brave and hilariously tragic HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH and also read Roger Ebert's superbly written and accurate review of PARTY MONSTER then you will be well equipped to deliciously slurp up every frame of this - literally - sensational disco bloodbath. To say that the astonishing and entertaining performances of Culkin and Green are fearless is the understatement of the century. 20th or 21st! PARTY MONSTER is a major achievement.

This film is about Michael Alig who was a club promoter during the early 90's that pled guilty to first degree manslaughter for killing his drug dealer over drug debt.

Some people believe Macaulay Culkin's acting in the film was misplaced and campy for his portrayal of Michael Alig. The film was oddly directed and it was definitely low budget, but the film had a gritty and uncanny truth to it. I feel Culkin's acting was.well-placed for a character and setting of the movie. I don't know the whole story of Michael Alig and I'm not saying he was accurately portrayed here but Culkin's character shows that he is a narcissistic and unrelenting self-centered man mixed with diva characteristics and drug culture.

The Diva back-and-forth banter and strong stereotypes of narcissistic gay men can be off-putting to some, but I do feel there is some truth to the character portrayals. Mixed with the 2003 film grain and odd directing and muddled drug perspective camera work I feel the film is fine for what it is portraying. Truly this film comes down to the viewers personality of whether they will think it is a waste of time or not as it flirts within the boundaries of being objectively passable and subjectively confused or unnecessary.

PARTY MONSTER is a very strange and one-of-a-kind low budget tale. The characters and situations in which they find themselves are so exaggerated that you feel they can't bear any relation to real life but, what do you know, this is a true story so everything you see taking place on screen pretty much happened.

PARTY MONSTER is a thorough exploration of the New York party scene in the 1990s, in which hedonism and excess were the order of the day. It's a mood piece more than anything else, a near plot less affair chronicling the rise and fall of two characters who found themselves at the forefront of counter culture. Seth Green gets the big, showy role, but Macaulay Culkin is inevitably the focus of attention here, looking the same as in his kiddie films but contributing an intense and dark performance. I liked him, just as I liked his sinister turn in THE GOOD SON. As a whole I don't think this film's up to much, but those with an interest in the material or indeed the actors should enjoy it.

this film is an amazing work of art and must be viewed as such. if you're looking to understand the storyline, you MUST read the book disco bloodbath (rereleased as party monster) by james st. james. it's also helpful to watch the director's commentary on the dvd with fenton bailey and randy barbato. so much is explained between these two sources that is taken for granted in the film (ie michael and james' sources of incomes, explanations of michael and peter's relationship, and a more logical timeline). the most important thing to realize and keep in mind throughout watching this film is that michael alig was (is?) incredibly insecure but at the same time incredibly loving. the most telling line in the movie is delivered by seth green, when speaking to macaulay culkin after the latter's feigned attempt at suicide: "There's not enough love in the whole wide world to satisfy you." party monster the film is incredibly intelligent, as is the book. the story and its retelling are hysterical and horrifying at the same time. this film acts as both a warning and a touching memoir - a must see for fans of realism and those who enjoy seeing human emotion and drama rather than special effects and airbrushed muscles.

If you are a fan of true crime I strongly advise watching this movie and then do a deep dive as I did after! This story was so interesting to me and the movie had a lovable/quirky vibe that kept it light enough for such serious topics. The YouTube, interviews and documentary after this movie will only surprise you more.

Truly horrendous dramatization of the true story of Michael Alig. A gay man, he became the king of the club kid scene in the late 1980s. Eventually he became hooked on drugs which led to his downfall and involved murder.

There is only one good thing in this film--Seth Green's performance as James St. James, Michael's best friend. He's flamboyent, hysterically funny and plays his role with just the right amount of camp. That aside, virtually everything else sucks.

The casting of Macaulay Culkin in the lead is easily the worst mistake. He can't act and says everything in a dull monotone with a blank look on his face. He's worse now than when he was a child actor! Wilmer Valderrama briefly perks up the movie as Michael's lover DJ Keoki. He's incredibly handsome, full of charisma and gives a much better performance than the material deserves. Unfortunately he disappears after the first half hour. Also the movie doesn't play fair here--when Alig and Keoki are about to kiss, the camera goes black! I think in the year 2003 audiences can deal with 2 guys kissing--especially in an R-rated film. Dylan McDermott gives in a dull one-note performance as club owner Pater Gatien. Chloe Sevigny pops up late in the film...and is given nothing to do. Wilson Cruz (looking just great) also helps the movie playing Angel...but is also given nothing to do.

The script is scattershoot--it rambles all over the place and, by the end, you don't know where you are or what's happening. Where is Alig living at the end? Where is he getting all the drugs when he has no money? Why does Keoki even bother showing up at the end? Why does Angel demand money when he knows Alig is broke? etc etc. Also the direction is WAY off. Half the time the camera isn't even pointing at the actors who are speaking...other times it seems to wander around aimlessly.

Boring, pointless, unpleasant and seems much much longer than it's 98 minutes. A total waste of time. Avoid at ALL costs!!!!!!

When I started to watch this movie I wasn't at all aware what it was about. I just saw that MaCaulay Culkin and Seth Green were in it and thought, "Cool! Maybe this'll be good." A lot of people say this movie was bad, that it was horribly acted, but I think they just couldn't get past Culkin's shortcomings. I don't believe he was a bad actor, I simply believe he got stuck on the idea of how he had to humanize his character, and that was his ultimate downfall (in the special features he explained this was something he wanted to bring to the character).

Seth Green, as always, is adorable and can completely immerse himself into a character and really bring him to light. Marilyn Manson played Christina wonderfully, if only for a short time. Wilmer Valderrama was terrific as Keoki and it was a disappointment to see he was only in such a little portion of the film.

All in all, this movie was great. It had a great cast and a great script. The movie was meant to poke fun, not to make you think about any hidden meanings or to wonder why they were acting so strange. Club Kids were all about glamour, mocking celebrities, and, in the end, drugs. They didn't want to grow up, and they certainly didn't want to live a normal life.

Culkin had his moments where he pulled Alig off well, and in others, you could tell he was trying to stretch the character into places he wasn't meant to go. And if he was, Culkin certainly wasn't the actor to do it.

All in all, a "fabulous" film. Highly recommended if you're interested in how some of the 80's really played out.

Saw this flick last nite.....it was fun, somewhat touching. The two leads played well together. The film could stand some tighter editing though. I, along with most of the theater, was squirming long before the end. Some scenes drag on.....

i'm going to have to agree with the reviewer who asked, "why, oh, why, do they let culkin act?".... my friends and i asked ourselves the same question after renting this film on a whim (the cast and plot synopsis on the dvd case looked rad). however, i've seen a ton of excellent experimental films, some good ones, some mediocre ones, and, yes, several bad ones -- and this one probably takes the cake. actually, i almost thought about knocking verbinski's "the mexican" from its perch as the #1 worst movie i had ever seen and replacing it with "party monster", but i felt so bad for seth green's attempt at salvaging this movie and his character that i placed this film at #2 out of pure pity. now, i understand the premise of the film -- and i like the premise -- i like the idea of doing it in an impressionistic, experimental, excess-laden, requiem-for-a-dream-soulless style. however, i do not think that this film was quite able to successfully create the feeling that it attempted to. culkin's performance was so mildly annoying throughout the whole film that it began to gnaw on me and my fellow filmgoers to the point where we wanted the seth green character to just kill him mid-film -- not because we hated the character culkin played (which would work in a film like this), but because the acting was so horrible, and that damned accent/giggle/blank stare of his was soooo off. just off. there was something just missing from this film in general. i want to say it just barely misses the mark, but i kind of feel like it probably misses the mark by a whole lot. my friends and i got the impression that this film was done as a favor by the actors and that not much effort or research was put into the characters, thereby creating these fake impressions -- not artificial, mind you, WHICH WOULD WORK, since the characters were supposed to be artificial (but they ended up just seeming annoying and stupid) -- but unbelievable, fake impressions of people more complex and insidious than the actors portrayed them to be. i also think that this film was poorly written, and had several time discrepancies which i would have forgiven had i thought the film was tongue-in-cheek; however, it didn't quite pull off the tongue-in-cheekiness, although i understand that it might have been going for that angle. again, nothing really materialized. i would not recommend this film for someone who is looking for a film that will make them think, or even for a good story. this is a somewhat boring and annoying film that strives for uniqueness and lunges at experimentation, and comes out sour and stupid. F-.

I often wondered why U.S. American movies involving young people who are into drugs are either pathetic (f.e. Drugstore Cowboy) or even downright ridiculous in their conservative portrayal of the dangers of drug use (f.e. Traffic, The Movie). Party Monster is very different. It's easy to see that the people who made this movie really informed themselves about what they tried to show. By doing this they achieved one of the best movies about adolescence i've seen in a long time. It's has a very sad and tender tone and though some scenes seem a little bit too stagy, the performances of the two leading actors are pure magic. It's pure joy just to watch them and as you got to see a lot of them there is plenty of fun. Nevertheless the movie leaves you with a very intense and ambivalent feeling towards it's characters who were indeed something very special. I even dreamed about this picture after seeing it! Thanks for the strange dream!

"Party Monster" tells the strange, colorful and tragic story of Michael Alig, the flamboyant, outrageous club kid. Macauley turns in a surprising performance as Alig. It's a far cry from "Home Alone"! This movie also offers a very interesting look into club kid culture. This look at post-disco/post-Warhol lifestyles is rather reminiscent of "54." Other interesting performances came from Seth Green as James St. James, Alig's mentor-turned-sycophant, and Wilmer Valderrama as DJ Keoki, who becomes Alig's lover. You won't know whether the outrageous characters are accurate or exaggerated!

A home movie trying desperately to pass for a film. Not one redeeming quality here. Anyone out there who still believes narrative films can be shot on video and pass for something of substance is a fool. This piece of garbage looks terrible, sounds terrible, is poorly written and dreadfully acted. There is a reason Macaulay Culkin has not acted in a while and it isn't because he needed a break, it's because he truly SUCKS! I would expect more from Seth Green, but he sucks in this as well. Supposedly it cost 5 million to make this. It looks like they spent 5 bucks on a VHS tape and ran around New York for a day, then pieced it together with two VCRs. A complete waste of time.