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Party Monster

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Party Monster (2003)

26%
15%
51%
N/A
N/A
N/A
26 %
Reviews Counted: 73 Fresh: 19  Rotten:54 Average Rating: 4.3/10
 
Consensus: The lurid display of camp soon turns tedious.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Theatrical Release: Sep 5, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $296,665

Synopsis: With PARTY MONSTER, directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE) rework their 1999 shockumentary into a feature film. Based on the book by James St. James, PARTY MONSTER tells the lurid tale of Michael Alig (Macauley Culkin), a self-made party promoter who made a big... With PARTY MONSTER, directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE) rework their 1999 shockumentary into a feature film. Based on the book by James St. James, PARTY MONSTER tells the lurid tale of Michael Alig (Macauley Culkin), a self-made party promoter who made a big splash in New York City nightclubs in the 1980s and early '90s. Told in shifting perspectives between Alig and James (an utterly fabulous Seth Green), the film recounts the events that eventually landed Alig in jail for manslaughter. The story begins like so many others: an innocent, fresh-faced Midwesterner arrives in New York City with dreams of superstardom. And after a brief bit of struggling, Michael turns his fantasy into a reality. Soon, the confident youngster is the toast of the town, throwing parties at the infamous Limelight for owner Peter Gatien (Dylan McDermott). But eventually he succumbs to drug abuse and paranoia, which climaxes in the murder of his drug dealer Angel (Wilson Cruz). Bailey and Barbato recreate this wild moment in history with glee, and they pack their film with enough celebrity firepower (Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, Marilyn Manson) to glamorize the story even further. [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Wilson Cruz, Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne

Director: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Screenwriter: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Producer: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Jon Marcus, Brad Simpson, Christine Vachon
Composer: Jimmy Harry

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 7, 2004

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33
  • Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby 2.0 Stereo - English
  • Dolby 2.0 Stereo - Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary
  • Interviews - 1. Michael Ailig
  • 2. Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloe Sevigny - Stars
  • Behind the Scenes Footage
  • Bonus Featurette
  • Trailer

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
3/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out
Ratings Image
3/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Ratings Image
N/A

Rule No. 1: If you use black humor in a film about real-life characters and events, make sure you have a feel for it first.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/30/04
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife
Ratings Image
1/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/02/04
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald
Ratings Image
3/5

Culkin se esforça, mas não convence como o bissexual Michael Alig. Em contrapartida, Seth Green rouba o filme com sua ótima performance.

comment Comment
02/02/04
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
5/10

So awful, it’s almost good.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/22/04
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy
Ratings Image
1.5/4

Never has the Manhattan club scene ever looked so tedious; this film makes a powerful argument for staying home and renting a movie.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/22/04
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/15/04
Guardian [UK]
Ratings Image
N/A

Perhaps Party Monster’s limited distribution will keep this clunker from interrupting Seth Green's rise to the top of the Hollywood food chain.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/15/03
Todd Gilchrist
FilmStew.com
Ratings Image
2/4

It's the drunk-guy- at-the-party syndrome: The only one truly entertained by the clown with the lamp shade on his head is the clown with the lamp shade on his head -- or folks similarly inebriated.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/12/03
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
C-

A mess.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/05/03
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
1.5/4

Memo to Macaulay Culkin: When your latest cinematic 'comeback' attempt is a film like Party Monster, maybe remaining in career limbo wasn't such a bad idea.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/05/03
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image
1.5/4

The look, like Culkin's self-consciously manic performance, is all surface -- which may be the point of profiling these empty lives, but not enough reason to make us watch.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/05/03
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image
1/5

Fact-based story of drugs and death in "clubland" is boring and banal, failing in its attempt to shock and scandalize.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/20/03
James Rocchi
Netflix
Ratings Image
1.5/4

We begin the film not knowing what brought Michael and James together. We end, after a too-long 98 minutes, precisely the same way.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/14/03
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
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C+

"... equal parts freakish fashion show and tawdry melodrama of the rise and fall of a superficial celebrity."

Full Review | comment Comment
11/13/03
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image
D

As a human document 'Party Monster' is pretty much a disaster...shapeless and sloppy.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/10/03
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Ratings Image
1/5

Like Alig, Party Monster is a colorful mess, all style and substances and little else.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/09/03
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
2/4

In the end, for all the vibrancy, there's not much there there. Maybe that's the point, but I doubt it.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/07/03
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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Related Forums

i must know the name of this song...
by: theblindman 11/21/07


REEL_REVIEWER
PARTY MONSTER is "Woodstock," "Trainspotting" & "Sid & Nancy"
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/9/07


REEL_REVIEWER
PARTY MONSTER is "Woodstock," "Trainspotting" & "Sid & Nancy"
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/9/07


REEL_REVIEWER
PARTY MONSTER is "Woodstock," "Trainspotting" & "Sid & Nancy"
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/9/07


REEL_REVIEWER
PARTY MONSTER is "Woodstock," "Trainspotting" & "Sid & Nancy"
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/9/07
all

News

In Other News...Natasha Lyonne, Brad 'n Jen, and Kirsten 'n Jake
posted by Jen Yamato August 23, 2005
According to the NY Post, American Pie star Natasha Lyonne is in the intensive care unit of New York's Beth Israel...

Around the Network

• Party Monster at Rotten Tomatoes
• Party Monster at AskMen
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