ign logo IGN.com | AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GameSpy | FilePlanet | TeamXbox | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

RT Bug Squash
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
Register for free site & special features! | Log In | What is RT?
                       
MOVIES / ON DVD / PARTY MONSTER
Party Monster

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Party Monster (2003)

26%
43%
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. The lurid display of camp soon turns tedious. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
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... [More]
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. [Less]

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:

Jul 9, 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

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
12/30/06 06:30 AM
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:03 AM
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
01/15/04 05:23 PM
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It's Green who, despite his straight-man role ... steals the show, with a performance of controlled engagement with both the delights and damage of the kids' lifestyle.

Full Review | Comment
11/04/03 05:21 PM
Ben Walters
Sight and Sound
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
09/06/03 08:17 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

It's camp, trashy and altogether too silly for its own good, only proving that 23-year-old Culkin is far from leaving childish things behind.

Full Review | Comment
08/27/03 11:38 PM
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It's very self-aware and probably too arch. But the effortless and inventive weaving of zany surfaces with the more sobering truths below makes the film worth seeing.

Full Review | Comment
08/19/03 05:18 PM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:19 AM
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
12/06/05 07:59 PM
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

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
03/30/04 04:31 PM
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
02/02/04 05:21 PM
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald
Ratings Image

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

| Comment
02/02/04 02:47 PM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

So awful, it’s almost good.

Full Review | Comment
01/22/04 08:04 PM
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy
Ratings Image

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
01/22/04 07:18 AM
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Ratings Image

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
12/15/03 04:41 PM
Todd Gilchrist
FilmStew.com
Ratings Image

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
12/12/03 05:28 AM
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Ratings Image

A mess.

Full Review | Comment
12/05/03 04:35 PM
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
Ratings Image

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
12/05/03 04:32 PM
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image

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
12/05/03 10:19 AM
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image

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

Full Review | Comment
11/20/03 11:49 PM
James Rocchi
Netflix
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4
See More Topics...

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
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive

By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.