Party Monster
by David DiCerto

The meteoric rise and subsequent fall of Michael Alig, enfant terrible of the 1990s New York club scene, is charted in the cautionary, no-frills biopic "Party Monster" (Strand).
Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (who based much of the film on their same-titled documentary), the movie paints a tragic and at times darkly humorous portrait of self-destructive behavior, though its unflinching look at the pervasive drug abuse that fueled the glittery, sybaritic club subculture is, at times, difficult to watch.

Adapted from the novel "Disco Blood Bath" by fellow clubber James St. James, the film follows the descent of Alig (Macaulay Culkin), a sexually confused Midwest import who was drawn to the strobe lights of Gotham's club scene, only to be burned by their intoxicating allure and promise of "money, success, fame and glamour."

Early on he hooks up with reigning glam king St. James (Seth Green), a young, gay, peacockish diva who initiates him into, among other things, the intricacies of making grandiose entrances for maximum media exposure. St. James is also responsible for setting Alig on the slippery slope of recreational drug abuse.

Alig's natural charisma and knack for twisted theatrics rockets him through the ranks of underground party promoters. His salacious soirees and growing cultlike following catch the attention of powerhouse club impresario Peter Gatien (Dylan McDermott), who takes Alig under his wing.

Gatien becomes Alig's enabler, supporting him financially and turning a blind eye to his escalating drug habit so long as Alig plays the party pied piper and keeps Gatien's clubs packed and in the gossip columns. But as Alig's shindigs become more outrageous, so does his behavior, fueled by his spiraling-out-of-control addiction.
The life of the party becomes its death when Alig kills his drug supplier, Angel Melendez (Wilson Cruz), over monies owed Melendez.

While the narrative could use a bit more moral clarity, the filmmakers, to their credit, do not condone or glamorize the debauchery displayed, but use the camera lens to expose its self-destructive ugliness. "Party Monster" scrapes away the sequins and fairy dust, revealing a hedonistic wasteland full of detritus and banality. It's as if the entire film is constructed as an admonition to the mendacious mantra preached by Alig to his band of dysfunctional disciples: "The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom." How wrong he is.

Culkin sheds his fresh-scrubbed "Home Alone" innocence, imbuing the role with an unsettling blend of boyish charm, manipulative self-indulgence and megalomaniacal moxie. Playing the perfect Peter Pan to the club kids' Lost Boys, Culkin masks Alig's inner desolation with a gilded veneer of giggles and glitter. During the movie, Alig is described as "a scared, pathetic little boy too afraid to face reality" -- a description effectively captured by Culkin's nuanced performance.