On P List of Movie Reviews
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Party Monster (2003)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
3/21
3/21:
Macaulay Culkin may be über famous for Home Alone, but his greatest performance
lies in Party Monster.
For some random reason, I had been familiar with Michael Alig, the leading member of the Club Kids during the 80's and 90's,
and his murder of a drug dealer. I found out he died of heroin overdose last Christmas Eve but hadn't seen the film until
now. The wait has been well worth it.
One true sign of a film overcoming the poor celluloid quality is through either acting or writing.
Party Monster succeeds on both counts. Forget the look or the ubiquitous gay theme; the true surprises are Macaulay
Culkin and Seth Green. Both deserved Oscar nominations. It's clear they put a lot of work into their roles.
The longer the show went on, the more curious I was if the filmmakers would show how the
murder happened. Then, they were about to cheat me by using imagination alone through words. I was going to be
disappointed, but luckily, they made good on the promise. So, this is what happened: Michael Alig dismembered Andre "Angel"
Melendez, stuffed his body parts in bags, and threw them in the Hudson River.
Speaking of Oscar nominations, two more should've gone to Richie Rich and Michael Wilkinson for costume design and the entire
team for makeup which are first-rate. In fact, according to IMDb: "Around 1,000 costumes were used—a
major achievement for a film with such a small budget. Many costumes were originals culled from the Club Kids themselves which
contribute to the authentic feel of the overall design and look of the film." Based on the book Disco Bloodbath by James
St. James, the writing by co-directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato is excellent as well.
All in all, thanks to Macaulay Culkin's comeback after a nine-year absence in cinema and Seth Green shedding his
doofus personality, Party Monster is a stunning revelation of their wonderful acting talents.