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Party Monster
Strand Releasing


7.7

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloë Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, Justin Hagan, Wilson Cruz, Wilmer Valderrama, Dylan McDermott, and Marilyn Manson

Based on the book "Disco Bloodbath" and the 1998 documentary "Party Monster," this film focuses on the relationship between two Midwestern kids who move to New York to re-invent themselves in the late 1980's.

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato James St. James (book Disco Bloodbath)
DIRECTED BY:	Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: Video: February 10, 2004 Theatrical: September 5, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / Netherlands

Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2003 Sundance Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

For all its decadence, it moves effectively from outrageous camp humor to stark pathos and in the process manages to be oddly touching. As for Culkin, he succeeds as an adult actor in completely unexpected ways.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

As stagy and awkward as some of the Warhol/Morrissey films of the early '70s.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Culkin plays Alig as clueless to the end, living so firmly in his fantasy world that nothing can penetrate his chirpy persona. Whether this is accurate--whether indeed any of the facts in the film are accurate--is not for me to say, but it works.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Culkin's Alig has the face of a debauched cherub, but the former child star never quite captures the charisma everyone swears was an essential component in Alig's success. Green's St. James steals the picture out from under him (poetic justice of a sort), and the supporting cast is nothing short of amazing.

Dallas Observer David Ehrenstein

Emotionally distressing yet compulsively watchable,

Film Threat D.W. Smith

Overall, I have to recommend the film for its alternate take on the whole "Leaving Las Vegas," "Basketball Diaries," "Less Than Zero" drug-induced tragedy genre.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Taking on the sneeringly blase Alig may be a cagey career move for Culkin, but it's a disappointingly thin performance.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Alig's superficiality seems to have been his only talent. His banality is a problem that the film can't overcome.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

So what is the picture saying? With its uneven tone, flat direction (on bad-looking digital video) and varied performances, very little.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

His (Culkin's) performance is earnest and brave, but also mannered when it should be un-self-conscious, and awkward when grace is called for.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The plot is sordid and predictable -- indiscriminate nightclubbing leads to escalating drugs, promiscuity, and violence. Things perk up cinematically in the last few scenes, but by then it's almost too late.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Most moviegoers will have trouble looking past Culkin the actor, who does a decent job of sending up youthful fame in a movie that's barely worth the effort.

Newsweek David Ansen

There isn't an ounce of genuine affection on display. Fenton and Barbato already made a documentary of the same title about Alig, and their fascination with this vapid, charmless pied piper of decadence remains a mystery.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

Better than I expected but still not entirely convincing. As a cautionary tale for demimonde-sters, though, it has its useful points--never argue about money while you're in a K-hole, that sort of thing.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

If this were witty, it might have qualified as a downtown version of "All About Eve"; if it were believable, I wouldn't have come away feeling that the actors (including Dylan McDermott and Chloe Sevigny) were wasted.

Variety Dennis Harvey

A colorful, lurid and ultimately so-what look at obnoxious personalities careening down their own road to ruin.

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

Party never gets rolling.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

In the end you don't believe what you're watching, and you don't care. This party is a drag.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Devotes most of its energy to its costumes and makeup, which are fabulous. But that and a tabloid-worthy star just aren't enough to revisit this sordid tale as a kind of twisted comedy.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The film's only real bright spot is Seth Green, who, as Culkin's sidekick, brings Party Monster a droll wit it otherwise lacks. It's such a dreary mess that when Culkin insists that life in prison isn't too different from being a club kid, it's all too easy to believe him.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

The psychologizing in Party Monster never goes deeper than what you might get out of Dr. Phil on a bad day.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Macaulay Culkin still can't act, and it's no longer cute. His performance in Party Monster is so embarrassing one doesn't know where to look.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Feels fake, forced and indigestible.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

"Prison isn't all that different from a nightclub,'' comments Alig toward the end. Funny; this movie isn't all that different from prison.

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman

The distance between tawdry and tedious can be amazingly short. It is traveled with Concorde speed in the arch Party Monster.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

There's really only one reason to see Party Monster, and that's Seth Green's scene-stealing performance as former (and somewhat reluctant) New York club kid James St. James, the boy who would be queen.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

The wanton fabulistas of Party Monster are as boring and insignificant as the very "normals and drearies" they so contemptuously deride.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A colorful mess, all style and substances and little else.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Unwatchable.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jeny L. gave it a10:
I just loved this movie! It had the perfect cast.. the only word I can think of to say is that it was FABULOUS!!!

Brandon T. gave it a10:
This is my favorite movie of all time, for those of you who like it, you can see that they also ranked it out of 10! This movie inspired me to read the novel disco bloodbath by james st. james which is even more impressive. All the actors successfully captured the real emotions of each person. After becoming somewhat of a party monster junkie I have done alot of research, found many videos and photos of the actual club kids and the movie does an excellent job at properly portraying them. But what makes this movie not only a work of media art but also a plain old good movie is that it is a true story. For anyone that sais it is a bad movie, you must have a very simple mind and life, because these guys are living in what was and still is a reality. Awesome movie!

Rick gave it a0:
Sucks BIG time! Boring.... very very boring. Just a load of trash.

anna b. gave it a10:
Sick movie. wow.

Ethan P. gave it a 3:
Legendary premise without epic moves. Culkin gave the single worst performance I have ever seen. He might be gay in real life--who knows--but he can't play a club kid on-screen (unless this is what Michael was really like, which I doubt). Worse than junior-high acting. Seth Green wasn't much better (what's up with that? He should be good). Clever ideas for parties, but lacking in the "fabulous" emotions they must have stirred in real life. Great costumes, but none of the art direction felt like the early 80s. A fair screenplay without any new ideas. This is Velvet Goldmine without a master's touch. There were only a few moments at which I felt I was watching the work of competent artists. A potentially great story told with minimal creativity.

Paul D. gave it a 2:
Costumes & makeup are great, but unfortunately that's it. An unappealing and tedious look at unappealing & banal characters.

Erin S. gave it a 9:
I like the way Seth Green dances.

Party Monster Strand Releasing

Party Monster
Strand Releasing