Party Monster Movie Review:


Synopsis:

“Good. Evil. Fun”

Michael Alig was one of the infamous original ‘Club Kids’ of New York, who lived to have thrills.
His gender – bending party nights at the “Limelight” were the place to be seen, especially if you liked to indulge in outlandish fashions and trendy drugs.
The movie follows Alig, in the guise of Culkin, through the highs of his meteoric rise, right down to his spectacular fall, bragging on television of having murdered his own dealer, who was also his room - mate.
Seth Green plays his lover, James St James, whose book, “Disco Bloodbath”, was the basis for the film.

The movie begins with the creative, but lost, Alig arriving alone in New York, where he happens upon James St James (Green), in a fast food joint, and charms him into teaching him the New York club etiquette.
The first thing to note about Party Monster is that it has little perception of the passage of time. This effectively conveys the effects of ketamine, ecstasy and heroin on the characters drug addled heads. Even their cat is on drugs. As they become more reliant on substances, their ‘memories’ become increasingly foggy.
Parts of the tale are described reflectively by the affected and decadent Alig, as he and St James debate the story’s nuances from the bed of a dingy flat.
Then suddenly, you are plunged into the vibrancy and colour of their history.
Culkin appears to be striving for arch-camp, but his turn is less convincing and natural than Green’s. He captures the superficiality of Alig’s character well, but some of his lines fall flat, as they seem devoid of genuine emotion.

It is only when his vulnerability kicks in that you can see his real potential, and it is there, but doesn’t get a chance to shine through until the latter part of the movie, when the lost – little boy aspects of the character begin to emerge.
The character is complex to the verge of psychopathic, and it is a brave role for Culkin to take. He succeeds in pushing some, but not all of the buttons.
As previously mentioned, Seth Green is magnificent in this film, a real surprise and compelling to watch. He conveys carefree flippancy and it appears to come to him effortlessly. He also seems to have the lion’s share of the wittiest lines, and delivers them with such relish. His comedic roots certainly stand him in good stead here. On top of this he really suits make-up and fluffy kitten heels!
Marylin Manson has a small role as Christina, a club regular. S/he has a similar sort of presence as Hopper in Easy Rider, staggering around mumbling and providing comic relief without really doing much, bless him. He seems to be enjoying himself, and plays a large part in one of the funniest scenes.
Chloe Sevingy plays a girlfriend of Alig’s, but as her part comes later in the movie she is left with little to do but giggle. Her character is not really developed upon, which is a shame, as she is more capable than this.
Cruz, who plays the drug - dealer Angel, is effective as the initially star struck follower who snaps when his drugs are vacuumed up but not paid for.
The direction is frenetic, in a good way, and really captures the feel of the era, getting sweaty and claustrophobic amongst the crowds of club kids. The garish flyers whirling around on screen add a touch of authenticity.
The sets, especially the dingy apartment, provide contrast with their luxurious tastes in fashion and high – living, creating a parallel between the reality of their messy lives and their distorted view of themselves as glamourous beings.
However, it does appear that there may have been some over-editing - just a feeling, but it seems as though towards the end things have been rushed to a conclusion.
Considering this is a conclusion of some magnitude, it does seem to have been trivialised, and there is a feeling that this should have been explored further. To virtually ignore this dark side of their tale, and indeed Culkin’s character, is disappointing, as we are offered only glimpses.

It’s possible that this was due to the drugs, lack of facts and mythology surrounding the case, but still seems overly vague.
“Party Monster” is worth a look, as it is sometimes messy but always original. It would have been a better film if it had pulled back from the party and shown us more of the monster.

6/10

Terresa Gaffney

Camp documentarians Bailey and Barbato expand their 1998 "shockumentary" Party Monster into a narrative film, and the result is similar to their docs: colourful and silly yet also serious and deeply moving. Michael Alig (Culkin) is a young man in New York determined to become big on the early 1990s club scene.

So with his pal James St James (Green) he creates the Club Kids, an army of drug-fuelled youths dressed in increasingly outlandish outfits who take the city by storm. Finally the club owner (McDermott) is happy, Michael's mother (Scarwid) is being pampered, and he has his pick of boyfriends (Valderrama) and girlfriends (Sevigny) until one day he mentions that he killed his drug dealer (Cruz). Oops.

Everything about this film is infused with fabulousness, from the costumes to the sets and, especially, the performances. After an absence of nine years, Culkin returns to cinemas with a type-smashing role ... which he's sadly not quite up to. He gets the physicality and campness just right, but never brings out the character below, except in a couple of rare serious scenes.

By contrast, Green's St James is even more over-the-top, and yet there's a real person just barely visible underneath the hilarious costumes and drama queen antics. In many ways this is his movie, really (it's based on St James' book, Disco Bloodbath).

Or at most it's a sort of deranged love story between Alig and St James, while most of the other characters stay well in the background. Meanwhile, Bailey and Barbato fill the film with quirky scenes, characters on the edge of drug-induced oblivion, and insanely colourful costumes.

Yes, it's very self-aware and probably too arch. But their effortless and inventive weaving of zany surfaces with the more sobering truths below makes the film worth seeing. This is a cautionary film about drugs, madness, murder and rehab ... made more potent because these things are flippantly seen by the characters as a normal part of everyday life.

Rich Cline

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