Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Party Monster

Top positive review

One of my fav movies

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 2, 2023

I love everything about this movie. The acting is amazing, the plot is beyond amazing, the book (disco bloodbath) is SO good too.

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Zech

Speedy but Abysmal

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 24, 2020

Speedy delivery, but dvd doesn't not come with subtitles (preference for myself being deaf in one ear) and it says it gives the option of widescreen or full screen but it plays full screen no matter what you pick which is rather annoying. Throws the whole movie off from what I remember when I first saw it as a kid.

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From the United States

Christina Hoffman

One of my fav movies

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 2, 2023

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I love everything about this movie. The acting is amazing, the plot is beyond amazing, the book (disco bloodbath) is SO good too.

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M. A. Devlin

Great Movie- IF you know what to expect

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 11, 2009

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If you expect to watch a plot driven movie,this is not for you. This film uses a murder to draw you into the time of the Club Kids, a time when it only mattered if you were seen.

I sat down to watch this out of boredom. I am not a fan of Macaulay Culkin and did not think I would last the entire film. Instead, after writing this review, I will be watching Party Monster again.

This film is almost as much about the time as it is about the people. Michael Alig and James St. James happened to be the people who took us to the late 80s, early 90's pre-Giuliani New York night club scene in this film. My exposure to the Club Kids prior to viewing this film was limited. I had managed to see them on Joan Rivers and thought what they were doing was a cool idea, just living to be seen, in a sense. The young men and women were existing for the next party, the next person to give them attention and the next high (both natural and chemically induced).

This movie transports you to a time and place that most of us will never experience, and it manages to do it quite well. The beginning and end did not fit in with the rest of the film and the attempt to bookend the film did not quite work out well, although the end did tie in reminder that Alig only cares for attention in case we had forgotten what his driving force is. I still found these scenes to be tacked on. They did help me travel from now back to the time period of the film and back again but it still seemed a bit disjointed.

Make no mistake, this film is low budget. This was especially obvious in a couple of scenes that take place outside the club on the street. I could almost see the tape for the roped off area, the lack of natural foot traffic was obvious. The two main actors (Seth Green and Culkin) both had several scenes where it was clear they had not had time to work on practicing their lines, and that rehearsals were needed (the beginning of the first scene in the fast food joint comes to mind).

I was surprised at the performances by Chloë Sevigny (yes, gay men can have friends that are girls), Dylan McDermott (who played an excellent role in Wonderland -- another low budget gem, around the same time) and Marilyn Manson as Christina.

This is a good movie to view if you want to leave the world you are in for a couple hours, but a better budget would have really helped this film.

20 people found this helpful

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Cody N

I love Seth Green

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2022

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This movie is amazing and so underrated, yes it has its issue (Macaulay Culkins acting for instance) but overall it’s a fascinating story told in a very interesting way. Also Seth Green is amazing in this, he is exactly like the person he plays and he commits to the role so hard it’s amazing to watch.

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KICKAZZDOOD

MONEY, SUCCESS, FAME, GLAMOUR

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 16, 2013

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I LOVE IT ! Awesome movie here.

Party Monster is a 2003 biographical crime drama film that details the rise and fall of infamous New York party promoter Michael Alig. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as the drug-addled "King of the Club Kids".

Written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the film is based on Disco Bloodbath, the memoir of James St. James which details his friendship with Alig, that later fell apart as Alig's drug addiction worsened, and ended after he murdered Angel Melendez and went to prison. A 1998 documentary on the murder, also called Party Monster: The Shockumentary, was used for certain elements of the film.

Based on the book Disco Bloodbath, by James St. James, the film opens with Michael Alig as a small-town outcast who lived with his mom before moving to New York. Michael learns the New York party scene from James St. James, who teaches him the "rules of fabulousness", which mostly revolve around attracting as much attention to oneself as possible.

Despite James' warning, Alig hosts a party at Limelight, a local club which is owned by Peter Gatien, and soon becomes the hottest club in New York, with Alig at the head. Alig is named "King of the Club Kids" and goes on a cross country journey in search of more club kids. Alig and James pick up Angel Melendez, Gitsie, and Brooke. Soon after meeting, Gitsie becomes Alig's new girlfriend. However, after Michael descends further into drug abuse, his life starts to spiral out of control, eventually culminating in his involvement in the murder of Angel. Gitsie and Michael decide to go to rehab and treat it as a "Second Honeymoon", leaving James behind. James then begins to write his "Great American Novel" published as Disco Bloodbath and later as Party Monster.

This movie is killer .. No pun.

I give it 5 stars.

Long live indie flicks.

9 people found this helpful

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fourminutestime

a strange world...strange time

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 14, 2020

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this movie is based on real events in the 90s. from kids that looked and acted this way, the movie had very amazing performances and very surprising attention to detail, it was surprising how close they got to the real story, this movie captured the culture of the 90s and the extravagant nature of those times. Macaulay Culkin was truly incredible and had a very detailed performance. Macaulay Culkin steals the show. he was really good. Seth Green was incredible too,he added a sweetness to the movie, the movie was so strange, but Seth added a sweetness to it, the movie has so much attention to detail in the costumes and the set design, the extras,etc.
a very strange and sad adaptation about a real strange and sad event in the 90s. the 90s was a different time and this movie captures some of the aspects of it. as well as being a cautionary tale on excess and getting too extreme, and the sad and tragic consequences of it.

One person found this helpful

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Sammy D.

AMAZING!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 24, 2014

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I can't write a review good enough to do this movie justice. It is absolutely fantastic, and if you know anything about the story behind it and are familiar with the people that the characters are based off of, you will be amazed at how great the casting and acting is. Macaulay Culkin IS Michael Alig and his mannerisms, voice, laugh...everything was spot on. The same with Seth Green. I really underestimated both actors until l saw this film for the first time. Despite the obviously terrible crime that Michael Alig committed, I still find him impossible to hate, and it is the same way in the movie. Even though you know that what they are doing is often times horrible, you will still find yourself rooting for the characters because they are so likable. I loved the portrayal of Michael because he is not made out to look like a monster, it is a different perspective on the story and shows him starting out innocent and good hearted, and then shows how the pain and depression that he was suffering from to made it easy for him to find such comfort in drugs and lose control, leading to life altering bad decisions. Many documentary's on the life of Michael Alig and murder of Angel portray Michael as an evil monster who easily killed a former friend in cold blood without looking at the events leading up to it. This movie takes a better look into his back story, and shows how numb he had made himself from drug use that he wasn't in control of his actions, and really not aware of the reality of the situation in general. He is shown more as a scared and hurt fragile young man rather then a cold blooded killer with no conscience or regrets for his actions.

13 people found this helpful

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Jason

Gloriously awful club kids do awesomely terrible things. True story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 5, 2020

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To everyone leaving a bad review how DARE you and do you even KNOW this is a true story about real people and "overacting"? Have you ever met the violently gay club kid folk? They hit the nail on the head with this acting challenge and I'm floored with what a good job they did.

If you are completely unfamiliar with these people then i suggest you YouTube "welcome to my face" where james st james (the guy from the movie who wrote the book the movie as made from and lived this story) invites wicked cool makeup artists to use his face like a canvas. If you hate his show, you will absolutely not one the movie when he was a pretentious little semifamous rich kid we all loved and envied. They're oer the top extravagant and wildly inappropriate. If that's not your thing, exit stage left before you go in thinking its a seth Greene comedy or a Macaulay drama. It's its own movie as it should be.. Phenomenal movie.. Still watch it a few times a year to this day.

8 people found this helpful

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C. W. Mann

Sick, Twisted and....Fabulous!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2004

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Well, now that this film is out on DVD, I finally got the chance to see it. I must have missed its showing in Philadelphia. I had heard so much about it and rented the DVD with much anticipation. I wasn't let down at all! After viewing, I purchased my own copy right away to add to my collection.
I was in college in the mid-late 1980's in North Jersey not far from NYC so I was at least familiar with the setting, Reagonomics and the ME decade of the 80s. It is very easy to see just how this all happened.
Now, on to the film itself. I watched with trepidation to see "little" Mac (that adorable little boy from Home Alone) in his comeback role as an adult actor. Could he pull it off? YOU BET! With beads and feathers to boot! He really prepared well for the film and did an awesome job recreating the now infamous Michael Alig. He's a long way from Home Alone now and I'm so glad. Give a real actor a meaty role and just watch him sink his teeth into it...and that is just what Mac does...over and over again.
Seth Green, playing James St. James, the author of the book on which the film is based is also a hoot! I have never quite seen him like this. He truly WAS a queen in this film...so convincing in his role.
And finally, Marilyn Manson. Well, I really didn't know WHAT to expect from him, this being his first film. What can I say about his performance as Christina, a trangendered Niko-influenced party girl? Brilliant! And WAY too short. I would have loved to have seen more of him. Perhaps he can write and produce HER story to bring to the screen next? I'd love it!
See this film...but when you do, fasten your seatbelts because you are in for a ride that is....well...sick, twisted and....FABULOUS!

5 people found this helpful

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Adam Nicholas

One of the best...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 9, 2022

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...Movies of all time! Great cast!

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master.anglin

A fabulously disturbing look at club kids.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 5, 2019

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By far this is my favorite movie starring Macaulay Culkin. This is not your typical formulaic film and for me that is a good thing. One moment you find yourself drawn in by the strange beauty and the next you're being repulsed by the tragic ugliness of it. It's a fascinating look at a lifestyle that isn't normally showcased. The liberated carefree euphoria of the drug life is unashamedly glorified beautifully. Then you get to see the dark and disgusting consequences of overindulgence. Even though the main character, Michael only has himself to blame for ruining his life you can't help but feel compassion for him. Party Monsters reminds me a lot of Rocky Horror, they even reference it early on in the film.
Well worth a watch....and a rewatch.

3 people found this helpful

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