''Party Monster'' is a 2003 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

film written and directed by

Fenton Bailey World of Wonder Productions (WOW) is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in Television documentary, documentary television and Doc ...

and Randy Barbato, and produced by Bailey and Barbato with Jon Marcus and

Christine Vachon Christine Vachon (; born November 21, 1962) is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector. Vachon produced Todd Haynes' first feature, ''Poison'' (1991), which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film ...

. It stars

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...

as the drug-addled "king of the

Club Kids The Club Kids were a New York City-based artistic and fashion-conscious youth movement composed of nightlife personalities active from the late 1980s to 1996. Coined by a 1988 ''New York'' cover story, the Club Kids crossed over into the public ...

". The film tells the story of the rise and fall of the infamous

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

party promoter Michael Alig. It was Culkin's first film in nearly nine years since his starring role in '' Richie Rich''. The film is based on '' Disco Bloodbath'', the memoir of James St. James, which details his friendship with Alig and its collapse as Alig's drug

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

worsened, and its end after he murdered Andre "Angel" Melendez and went to prison. Bailey and Barbato had previously directed a 1998

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

on the murder, also called '' Party Monster: The Shockumentary'', from which certain elements were used for this film.

Plot

The film opens with Michael Alig as a small-town outcast who lived with his mother before moving to New York. Michael learns about the New York party scene from James St. James, who teaches him the "rules of fabulousness", which revolve around attracting as much attention to oneself as possible. Despite James' warning, Alig hosts a party at

The Limelight The Limelight was a chain of nightclubs owned and operated by Peter Gatien. It had locations in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, London and Hallandale, Florida. History Florida and Atlanta locations Peter Gatien opened the first Limelight n ...

, a local club owned by

Peter Gatien Peter Gatien (born August 8, 1952) is a Canadian club owner and party promoter. He is best known as the former owner of several prominent New York City nightclubs, including Club USA, The Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel. Life and career Gatien w ...

. With Alig as its main attraction, the Limelight soon becomes the hottest club in New York. Alig is named "King of the Club Kids" and goes on a cross-country journey in search of more club kids. Alig and James pick up Angel Melendez, Gitsie, and Brooke. Gitsie becomes Michael's latest sidekick, although the movie implies the relationship was little more than platonic. After Michael descends further into

drug abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

, his life starts to spiral out of control, eventually culminating in his involvement in the murder of Angel. Gitsie and Michael decide to go to rehab, but ultimately return to New York with the same drug problems as before. Michael loses his job and ends up in a motel in New Jersey, where he is arrested and sent to prison after being outed by James. James then begins to write his "

Great American Novel The "Great American Novel" (sometimes abbreviated as GAN) is the term for a Western Canon, canonical novel that generally embodies and examines the essence and Culture of the United States, character of the United States. The term was coined b ...

", published first as ''Disco Bloodbath'' and later as ''Party Monster''.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack peaked at number 21 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Dance/Electronic Albums Top Dance Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums and Top Dance/Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling dance music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by Nielsen ...

Release

''Party Monster'' made its

world premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

at the 2003

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on January 18, 2003, and later played at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in May of that year. On September 5, 2003, the film was put on

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

to different

art house An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...

theaters in major US cities.

Reception

The film received mainly negative reviews; it currently holds a 29% approval rating at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 79 reviews; the consensus states "The lurid display of camp soon turns tedious." It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003

, however, and ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film three out of four stars, calling Culkin's performance "fearless", though he remarks that "the movie lacks insight and leaves us feeling sad and empty—sad for ourselves, not Alig—and maybe it had to be that way". The film was only given a

. According to

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...

, the film only grossed $742,898 domestically (and $782,606 worldwide total) out of a budget of $5 million in its theatrical release.

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in the United States and Canada in February 2004 through

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

; the DVD contained various cast interviews, an

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

, behind-the-scenes footage, the film's original theatrical trailer, and a real interview with Michael Alig as bonus materials. In 2009, the DVD has been discontinued and is now largely unavailable for purchase at standard retail stores. This movie is widely available for streaming on various platforms.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Party Monster (2003 Film) 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2003 biographical drama films 2003 crime drama films 2003 films 2003 independent films 2003 LGBTQ-related films American biographical drama films American crime drama films American docudrama films American independent films American LGBTQ-related documentary films Biographical films about LGBTQ people Camcorder films Club Kids Crime drama films based on actual events Films about drugs Films about murder Films about parties Films based on memoirs Films produced by Christine Vachon Films set in New York City Films set in the 1980s Films set in the 1990s Killer Films films World of Wonder (company) films LGBTQ-related crime drama films English-language biographical drama films English-language independent films English-language crime drama films