Party Monster (1998) User Reviews

Lurid yet compelling true crime documentary

[davidals · 7/10 · 9 December 2003]

I'd read the 'Village Voice' series when this all went down, so I knew the overall story going into this documentary, which helps in getting through this - I have a few friends who turned this off, unable to believe what they were seeing. Nothing much for me to add - PARTY MONSTER is a technicolor-lurid portrayal of greed, addiction, self-delusion, narcissism and depravity (born not of pleasure, but out of a sort of sex-and-drugs one-upsmanship) all spun out of control, leading to the inevitable violent crescendo. Through it all the creativity (at least at first), insecurity and loneliness of the key players in the scene manages to also come through loud and clear, which adds to the tragedy behind the lurid surface here.

But there's also a world of lonely, kinky, creative, insecure, stoned and/or delusional people who somehow manage to not slide into the kind of horrorshow on display here, so those aren't good excuses (though the interviews with Alig's shattered and heroin-addicted last boyfriend made me unbelievably sad), and I'd say that Angel's family ought to be infuriated over Alig's behind-bars ascendance into cult stardom. Whatever Alig's future, I'm certain that a documentary about Angel would offer less shock value, but more soul, telling us far more about the multiple worlds he moved between in the process, which ultimately is why the value of PARTY MONSTER is questionable at best.

worth it

[no_hay_brujas · 8/10 · 14 February 2005]

While sparse and not as visually appealing as 'party monster', the 2003 motion picture with macauley culkin and seth green, this documentary has a shocking realness to it. it is also know as 'party monster - the shockumentary' on DVD, but I believe that it is only sold on region 1 dvds. it offers up an honest and heart breaking look at the rise and fall of the new york club kids, and michael alig himself. it is full of Michael Alig interview footage, and interviews with his mother and many of the club kids, including but not limited to Keoki and James St. James, Micahel's best friend who wrote 'disco bloodbath', the book that inspired the 2003 movie.

Pretty damn interesting flick.

[ElijahCSkuggs · 8/10 · 25 June 2008]

Initially , the only things I knew about Party Monster was that it was the flick with Seth Green and MacCauly Culkin.

I wasn't too interested in seeing either of them play two extremely gay men, so at first, I passed. But, there was still a curious part of me that had me wondering why these two well-known actors made this film. So when I got the chance to watch the documentary based on real-life personalities, I mumbled "What the hell." And I'm glad I did.

Party Monster focuses on the scene of the Club Kids, and it's proclaimed leader, Michael Alig. Michael among others was already some-what famous due to making NYC's nightlife explode, but he became even more famous when he was arrested for murder of another Club Kid.

The story briefly talks about Angel (the deceased Club Kid), then gives us a pretty informative look into the whacked out night-life culture of the Club Kids - where it seems almost everyone is bi-sexual or gay, (Not there's anything wrong with that.) and how drugs became the focal point for almost every single Club Kid.

It's not a truly eye-opening documentary because we've all seen crazy stuff before. But it is interesting. Michael Alig committed murder and is paying for it, and it's quite obvious that everything he's done, he's created for and by himself. An attribute a lot of confident and successful people share. Unfortunately his path to success involved hard drugs and the loss of conscious reasoning.

Check this flick out if you like docs or have an interest in this Party Monster story.

...And you thought YOU were messed up...

[tajiblue · 15 January 2002]

fascinating. You can't help but watch. This documentary focuses more on the lives and attitudes of Alig and his circle than it does on the murder of Angel. Very strange people in very strange times. James St. James has written a very good book on the subject called DISCO BLOODBATH. The most chilling comment is when Alig says he wants a lighter sentence "so he can have a VCR, because if you are on death row, you can't have one..." You would love to dismiss these characters from your mind, but you can't, they haunt you.

no remorse shown

[prizette · 7/10 · 6 February 2024]

This was an amazing documentary it just saddens me that nobody really showed any remorse or pity for angel. Wish we would have gotten more backstory on angel aside from his criminal history. It was so interesting to see this being covered. I like the dramatic recreation scenes. It gave the suspense that was needed for this documentary. I wish we could have gotten a deeper dive into the club kids world because from what I've seen stuff that they were doing definetly needs to be covered. I really feel pity for angel's family and I wish we could have seen more members from his family but we unfortuanly didn't I'd def reccomend for anyone who wants to learn a little more about micheal alig's case and rest in peace angel.

A good "Shockumentary", but lacks a little sympathy for Angel

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 8/10 · 13 July 2006]

Ever since my mom and I saw the motion picture "Party Monster", we were curious to learn more about the club kids and Michael Alig and James St. James. In my opinion about the tragic death of Angel Mendaz, I felt it was a fight gone too far because I did find out that Michael is actually despite the drug addiction is a very decent and kind human being. Same with Angel, he was a good friend, again, get past the drug selling, he was another very good human being. But then again I wasn't there, so I can't say this 100% with truth.

But I felt that the documentary was more on getting sympathy for Michael Alig, despite from what I heard and read on websites that he was a very nice guy, he did kill someone. He had claimed it was self defense, but he could've come clean from the get go then. Still the documentary itself on the club kids is a good one, if you are curious about the lifestyle and what it was like to be a club kid, this is a documentary worth watching.

8/10

Bizarre....

[MikeK-7 · 10/10 · 24 May 1999]

Fascinating look at gothic humans in this Marilyn Manson type documentary. The biographical story is about a young man who was arrested for the grisly murder of another 'club kid'. I hope this comes out on video because so many don't have the pleasure of having cable network CINEMAX like I do.

There's nothing to spoil here.

[thekeeth · 3/10 · 12 December 2007]

I caught the end of "Party Monster" the movie starring Macaulay Culkin, and it sparked my curiosity to watch the documentary.

This doc is fairly bare bones looking, but it tells the whole story I think. Since this film isn't covering ancient history, there are lots of living people around that can be interviewed for fleshing out the story. However, after watching the movie for 5 minutes you realize that all of these people were more than likely completely zapped on multiple drugs while the covered events were happening, so how much do they remember and how accurate is it? We'll never know. This story sounds really simple to me, too simple really. Michael Alig became very famous for promoting parties, he had access to lots of drugs, and lots of people who catered to this party all the time lifestyle.

I am going to sound like a downer by saying this, but I can't see any substance at all in any of the Club Kids. Was this all their lives was about? Pretty pathetic and meaningless if you ask me. Getting high and dressing up to go to get more messed up with a bunch of other idiots. This wasn't a very entertaining film to me. I guess the story is just all too familiar. Small town kid goes to the big city, gets some success, this causes a tragic spiral towards self destruction, the end. Blame it on the current state of our media if you want, but I am personally not shocked anymore by stories of drug abuse and the crimes committed by mentally unstable drug addicts.

total BS

[yzazz · 8 May 2004]

I watched this documentary from a different perspective than most, as I knew Alig and James St. James for a brief period in the 90s. I found that the documentary was inaccuarate, poorly edited, and sensationalist. While it does a good job of portraying Alig as the self-absorbed sociopath that I knew him to be, what it fails to do is educate anyone about the real story of any of the events it pretends to cover. Alig's "rise" in real life took place entirely before any of the footage in the film, which is all (rather obviously I might add)culled from the time when the club scene in NY was in shambles and promoters like Alig were basically just pied pipers luring people into drug addiction so that the few remaining club owners could deal them their drugs. Overall, the movie disgusted me, not because of the story it told, but rather in the way it told it.

Waste of a good story

[Jonah14 · 2/10 · 17 August 1999]

The Village Voice series covered this story. This movie fails to achieve what it could have been, about Michael Alig's rise to New York City club superstardom and descent into murder. Maybe next time.

Horrible murder sensationalized...

[bri-80 · 14 October 2000]

A very entertaining film from the always wry Fenton Baily and Randy Barbato. Too bad that while Angel Melendez was a very sweet man who suffered a horrible death, the film doesn't attempt to portray him with any complexity. If you can allow yourself to forget this fact, it's easy to be swept away by this thumping, flashy doc.

Riveting!!

[dgiffin · 20 April 1999]

Wow. Like a train wreck, I couldn't keep my eyes off of this film. I was riveted. And this was the sixth time I've seen it! An amazing retelling of the death of an era, and the death of a club kid.