Review of Party Monster (2003) by Peter L — 27 Apr 2013

Party Monster is an accurate and well-made film depicting the rise and fall of Michael Alig and The Club Kids. Viewers who have no knowledge on the subject might wonder what they are watching. However, if you know the history you will realize that this movie is actually a really good representation of true events.

Based on James St. James book 'Disco Bloodbath,' this film follows the story of Michael Alig (Macaulay Culkin), a young man from the Midwest. When he moves to New York City to forget his past, he quickly becomes thrown into the club scene. With the help of James (Seth Green), Alig throws a series of bizarre, over-the-top parties and becomes king of the nightlife. This movement spawned The Club Kids, a group of fellow young New York City personalities who became notorious for their wild partying and drug use. This eventually led to Alig's downfall when he was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison in 1997.

After watching a 1998 documentary about Michael Alig, I was surprised with how true Party Monster was in terms of the real events. Macaulay Culkin portrays him perfectly, and this is quite possibly his best performance in terms of acting ability. As good as Culkin is, Seth Green steals the show as James St. James. I only have limited knowledge of the actual story, but from what I know, the characters are very accurate to their real-life counterparts. Unfortunately, the one downfall here is the low-budget, which takes away from some of the intensity and tends to make the scenes repetitive in some parts. However, the great acting that is featured here keeps you entertained and interested as the movie unfolds. Michael Alig was obviously a troubled person, and Party Monster does a great job of demonstrating that. 4 stars.