88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fascinating Train Wreck., October 13, 2003
This review is from: Party Monster - The Shockumentary (DVD)
My best friend and I used to skip school whenever we knew Michael Alig and his Club Kids were going to be on Geraldo, Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, or any other talk show. Watching the Club Kids was so completely riveting and insane. They didn't make any sense, but it didn't matter. They all become stars, quite simply because they willed it to happen.
And then it all went terribly wrong. Surely you know how the story goes: Michael, in an extremely drugged state of mind, killed fellow Club Kid Angel Melendez over drugs. Angel was bludgeoned and injected with Drano. His body was left in a bathtub for days, only to be chopped up and placed in a big TV box, stuck in the back of a cab, and then thrown in a river hopefully to sink and never be found.
Before the body surfaced, Michael somewhat jokingly admitted to killing Angel. Wouldn't the best way to claim his innocence be to admit to doing something so horrific and terrible? Who'd believe that you really did it if you said you did it in such a joking manner? Someone believed him because Michael's in prison now.
"Party Monster" tells the whole sordid story in detail. It's chock full of Michael Alig interview footage- plus interviews with his mother and lots of the other Club Kids like James St. James and Keoki (among others) . It's the story of extreme excess, and how it all went horribly wrong. If you've ever had any desire to experience life through a K-hole, watch this. You'll change your mind immediately!
This is the documentary that ultimately spawned James St. James' "Disco Bloodbath" book, and the film that came out of that, also called "Party Monster." The book actually fills in the some of the holes that documentary leaves, or at least presents a slightly different viewpoint. Watch both the documentary AND read James St. James' book to get a fuller picture of what went on.
Had the budget been bigger this probably could have been a great film, but directors Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey do a great job with their obviously limited budget. It's still a very good documentary.
It's all rather bittersweet. Michael ultimately got what he wanted: to be a legend. It's probably not the kind of legend that he wanted to be, but it's what he became nonetheless.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting documentary!, June 14, 2005
This review is from: Party Monster - The Shockumentary (DVD)
Ever since I saw the motion picture "Party Monster" (with Seth Green, etc.) I have been totally fascinated with Michael Alig and the ClubKids. So I decided I would give this movie a try. I was so engaged and intreagued, but in a very different way than from the motion picture. It was so real and graphic, it really made the reality and truth of it to come to life. Also it was interesting to compare it to the motion picture to see how they adapted it to the 'bigger' screen. The quality isn't stellar, but from what I understand it was a very low-budget film. But the interviews are interesting, and you get a more detailed explanation of what actually happened, versus the movie that tries to compile it all into a more cinematic format. But overall I really enjoyed it and thought it was very interesting!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love It!, February 7, 2005
This review is from: Party Monster - The Shockumentary (DVD)
This shockumentary/documentary is FANTASTIC! I had been looking for it for quite some time and finally FINALLY found it at the local Indie video store. The Club Kids and their lifestyles were totally fascinating! The doc is not just about the horrific murder of Angel, but about the 'scene' too. It's terrible what happened to Angel, I do not condone what Alig did at all. However, this documentary goes into both stories...the rise and fall of the Club Kid scene, Angel's murder AND the rise and fall of Michael Alig himself.
In my opinion, James St. James is the star of this documentary. Once you see this doc, if you've not already done so...read his book 'Disco Bloodbath'. It's so entertaining and flows with interest and eccentricities that you will not be able to put it down! Definitely a fast read! Then to top it off...you have the film 'Party Monster', where in my opinion James St James takes the cake again! Seth Green is so awesome as JSJ! A previous review claimed that James St. James was just trying to profit from Michael Alig. So What?! This is done everyday. Books/films/docs...someone is always profiting from another's story or wrongdoing. That's the way these stories are told.
This is a FIVE STAR recommendation...on all three...the documentary, the book and the film!
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