Party Monster

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

Movie Info

With a short 57-minute running time calculated for TV timeslots, this documentary was partially financed by Cinemax and UK's Channel 4. Staged simulations are smoothly integrated with legit footage to jigsaw together a portrait of Michael Alig, serving time for manslaughter when this film was made. Waving goodbye to South Bend, Indiana, Alig arrived in NYC, became a college dropout, and developed a reputation for promoting parties during the '80s. The Alig parties featured bizarre costumes, performance art, and a sexual slant, but they eventually began going haywire with wild drug use/abuse of heroin, crack, and animal tranquilizers, prompting the law to take note. In early 1996, drug dealer Angel Melendez vanished, and a corpse later turned up floating near Staten Island; months later, Alig and a roommate were arrested. To recount the grim details, filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato interviewed Alig in prison, combining this with both party videos and footage of Alig associates. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Documentary, Special Interest
Directed By:

Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
In Theaters:

Feb 12, 1999 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

Sep 23, 2003
Runtime:

57 minutes
Studio:

World of Wonder Productions

Watch it now

iTunes

Cast

Michael Alig
as Himself

James St. James

Michael Musto

Richie Rich

Critic Reviews for Party Monster

All Critics (5)

Refuses to become a preachy treatise on drug excess, opting instead to merely report the events with style, humour and a cast of astonishingly interesting 'characters'.

Oct 27, 2003 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Fact-based story of drugs and death in "clubland" is boring and banal, failing in its attempt to shock and scandalize.

Sep 12, 2003 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…

James Rocchi
Netflix

View All Critic Reviews (5)

Audience Reviews for Party Monster

Dec 15, 2009

He came. He partied. He killed.

Wahida K Super Reviewer
Aug 15, 2009

A good side piece to go with The Party Monster movie that stars Macauley Culkin and Seth Green. Documentary shows what all the real club kids looked like that were played in the film. The movie is one of those that disturbs me so much I still have to watch it everytime i see it on. I was just boredly surfing through you tube when i came upon it. It makes you wonder if Micheal Alig the main charector in this film was actually evil or was just someone who went over the edge trying to have too good a time?

Lee K Super Reviewer